A Brand New Page
by Sparanda
Summary: A new boy joins the girls' school and joins the Keion club. Will he be a great asset to their band? Will he give the girls new opportunities for playing music? And why does he get so nervous around Yui? Abandoned
1. Come Together

Hello all. Welcome to "Brand New Page." For new readers, please refer to the helpdesk on your left. For returning members, please see the receptionist down the hall. Thank you.

So yeah...this is my first fanfiction in about 2 years, so I don't really know what to put here other than enjoy. Oh, for the three of you that have read my fanfictions before...I hope you don't take those stories into account when reading this. My writing style has changed (I hope) and I have help from my good friend, Bloodstained Comma (check her out for some great Death Note and Harry Potter work). I'm also going to be taking my time through all of this. I've been planning this one out a while before starting it and getting a lot of guitarical info from Comma.

So...here goes.

Oh, one more thing: I don't own K-On!, but if I did, it probably wouldn't be as yuri-ish. Oh, and that's another thing. Despite the overflow of yuri fics for K-ON! This fic will have none of it (except maybe from Sawa-baka-sensei...just for the comedy.)

*Sigh* One last disclaimer: I'm not exactly sure of the genderical nature of the school, but for my intents and purposes, Sakura High School is officially co-ed.

Aye...one MORE disclaimer: I also don't hold any of the rights to any Gibson guitars or any other equipment used in this fanfiction. Seriously, I don't own crap.

* * *

"Well what were you doing?" a female voice asked from somewhere around the corner to another person. The orange-haired boy paid it little heed as he walked down the road. He wasn't one to eavesdrop.

"Practicing on guitar..." said a different voice. Roy's ears perked up...Alright, now he was interested. He tried to figure out where the voices were coming from and focused on the area ahead of him. The girls were on the road that turned right just ahead. And it sounded like they were moving away from him.

Roy decided to follow them and figure out what exactly they were talking about. He walked nonchalantly around the corner and spotted the girls in question: two girls in school uniforms. Roy couldn't get a good view of either girl from the back, but one was shorter than the other; the shorter had short light brown hair while the other had short black hair.

"I've been practicing for the concert for the new students," the shorter girl said. The other girl made a small sound of admiration as they continued walking. Roy wondered silently if they would notice if he got closer. "I'm working hard to make the concert a success," the brown-haired girl continued. "And then we will get the first years."

'_They must go to one of the nearby high schools,'_ Roy thought as he followed the girls. Since he was going to be attending Sakura High School he knew that the school would be holding a day for new students to get acquainted in the school and even possibly find a club to join. _'I wonder if they're talking about a club at one of the schools.'_

Roy stopped walking when the shorter girl turned and pointed a finger sharply at the girl next to her. She was saying something to the girl about a music club, but Roy was paying more attention to the girl's face. _'Cute...'_ he thought dully. _'She's cute. I think she was the one that was talking about practicing on guitar earlier. If she goes to Sakura, I might have to check out their music club.'_ Roy looked down at his watch and noticed the time. _'Dang, I gotta head home. Dad wanted me back soon to help him with the new inventory.'_

Roy turned around and walked away slowly. Nodoka turned and watched him walk away as Yui continued on about how she was trying to destroy the Light Music Club. _'Who was that? Was he following us?'_ Nodoka asked herself worriedly.

* * *

_The day of first year orientation..._

Roy held a stoic expression on his face as he walked around the school grounds. Sakura High School wasn't very exciting so far. He hadn't seen anything about the music club performance he had heard about from those girls he overheard. He also hadn't seen the cute brown-haired girl either. Roy thought he might have noticed the other girl around, and that was basically the entire reason he hadn't gone home yet: if one of the girls was here, so was the other, and then so was the music club performance.

Come to think of it, he did remember hearing something about the music club here. _'Oh yeah, those weird animal cosplayers were handing out pamphlets to advertise the concert I think,'_ Roy reminded himself. _'Where did they say the performance was going to be?'_ Roy continued walking through the outside grounds of the school as he tried to remember the location. Then an idea clicked in his head.

'_I should probably just go check out the music club room,'_ he told himself. _'Someone there would probably know where it was.'_ So Roy set off to find the music club room. However, Roy had no idea where said club room was and decided to ask one of the teachers where it might be after a few minutes of aimless searching.

"Umm... sensei, where is the music club room?" he asked a female teacher that was standing behind a counter. A sign hanging from the counter said "Directions," so Roy assumed she was supposed to be showing the new students where to go to find certain clubs.

"Light Music club..." the teacher repeated as she searched through her list of club locations. "Ah yes. Building C, third floor at the top of the stairs." She smiled at Roy, who returned the smile and thanked her.

Roy quickly found building C and entered. The wooden railing of the stairs had several turtles carved into it as he continued up. Upon reaching the stairs leading up to the third floor, Roy happened to notice two girls (probably first years, by their looks) coming down the stairs. The door to what Roy assumed to be the Keion club's room was closing behind them, so they had apparently just left the room.

"Umm..." he said to get their attention. The two girls stopped. One of the girls was slightly taller than the other, but both girls had light brown hair similar to the girl Roy had seen the other day. In fact, the taller of the two looked remarkably like the girl; it was possible she might be related. Putting his thoughts aside quickly, he pointed up the stairs and asked, "Is that the room for the Light Music club?"

Both girls nodded. The taller girl smiled and said, "Yeah. Were you thinking about joining?"

"Not sure," Roy responded. "I was actually looking to find out where the concert they were planning on holding was going to be." _'Although now that I realize it, I could have asked the sensei at the information desk. Too late now, I suppose.'_

The shorter girl answered, "Oh, it's being held in Auditorium B. It's directly across the front courtyard from this building."

Roy nodded his head and smiled. "Thanks."

Both girls answered, "No problem." They smiled back before walking back down the stairs.

Roy turned back and looked at the doors at the top of the stairs. _'I guess it wouldn't hurt to meet them for just a few minutes,'_ he told himself as he began ascending the stairs. He had to admit he was a bit nervous. He normally was when formally meeting people. It wasn't like just asking a question in the hallway.

Roy knocked on the door. He heard a feminine voice yell, "Come in," and he pushed the door open slowly.

He poked his head in and said, "Umm, is this the Light Music club?" The four girls on the inside looked at him as he entered. Sure enough, the cute girl from before was there. She was sitting near what looked like a Heritage Cherry Sunburst Les Paul from what Roy could tell. She certainly must have been the girl that was talking about guitar practice before.

As one of the girls, a midnight-blue-haired one, answered, "Yeah," Roy noticed something very strange about the girls' attire: all four of them were wearing jogging suits. Roy's expression flattened a bit as he took in the scene: four girls in jogging outfits in a music room drinking tea and eating cake. Behind the girls was a miniature stage with a drum kit and a keyboard set up. Near the blue-haired girl was a bass, Fender Precision Bass according to the shape and logo on the headstock, and left-handed by the way the body shape was inverted from a regular Fender Precision.

Roy snapped out of his thoughts as a short-haired girl wearing a hair band asked him, "Were you looking to join the club?" All of the girls looked hopeful. Roy looked at the brown-haired girl he had seen the other day. The expression on her face was possibly more hopeful than the others', almost to the point of pleading.

Roy nodded slowly as a slight blush crept into his cheeks. "I was thinking about it," he said quietly. He kept an air of disinterest about him; he didn't want to get the girls' hopes up and then bring them crashing down. "What kind of music do you normally play?" he asked.

The girls looked at the each other. They had never really defined what type of music "light music" meant. The blue-haired girl looked back at Roy and answered, "I guess the closest definition would be soft rock or pop." Two of the other girls nodded in approval, but the last girl, the cute girl from before, still looked a little confused.

Roy nodded in acceptance. "Oh, sorry," he said quickly. "My name is Roy. Can I ask all of your names?"

The cute girl with the Les Paul answered quickly, "My name is Yui!" She was apparently an energetic person. Yui then turned and continued, "And that's Mio-chan;" she pointed to the girl with the bass; "Mugi-chan;" she pointed to the girl with long blonde hair that was sitting at a table away from the stage; "And Ritsu-chan!" Yui finally pointed to the final girl who was sitting on a bench near the stage.

"Yui, we can introduce ourselves," Ritsu said.

Yui simply scratched the back of her head. "Ah, sorry, sorry."

Roy smiled. The expression on Yui's face was very cute. He snapped back to reality quickly before looking back at all of the girls. "Umm, do you mind if listen to you all play a little?" he asked.

Mio looked at the other girls. Ritsu answered before anyone else, "Yeah, of course! Come on, girls!" The girls took their places and played a short song with Yui doing vocals. (A/N: I imagine here that the club plays "Cagayake Girls!" the opening theme from the anime and only the one minute and thirty second-long version used there.)

Roy nodded in approval. The song sounded good; Ritsu was a little ahead in her drumming rhythm, but it seemed like the other girls adapted to it rather quickly; it was probably a typical occurrence with Ritsu. Roy clapped softly as the girls finished their song. "You all sound great!" he said with a bright smile.

All of the girls beamed happily back down at Roy before exiting the stage area and moving to sit back down. Mio looked at the clock on the wall behind Roy before a shocked expression crossed her face. "We need to be down in the auditorium in 20 minutes!" she said quickly. Turning back to Roy, she said, "Sorry, but we are going to have to cut this short. You can head out to the auditorium to listen to our full performance though."

Roy smiled. "Sure, I'll head on down. Nice meeting all of you," he called back as he left the room.

* * *

Roy smiled as the sound of hundreds of new students clapping and cheering filled the auditorium. _'Well...the lyrics were a bit strange, but it was a good opening song, I suppose,'_ he thought to himself. _'I wonder who wrote the lyrics for the song, though. I'll have to ask later. I think they wanted anyone interested in joining to come by a little after the concert.'_ Roy let his thoughts go as Yui began speaking to the new students.

"When I first heard of the Light Music Club," Yui was saying, "I thought it was for light and simple music. I thought I would be alright if I..." Roy began to zone out from Yui's speech, as it seemed she would be talking for a while. He started thinking back to his first official meeting with the girls.

'_Ritsu-chan definitely seems like an energetic person... perhaps overly energetic. I suppose that's a good thing for a drummer, though. Mio-chan seems like a rather shy girl. Bass guitar is perfect for her then because it stays out of the center of attention that vocalist or lead guitar gets, but still requires skill. Mugi-chan probably comes from a wealthy or accomplished family since she carries herself very maturely and plays the keyboard well, so there's a possibly that she used to play the piano, which I know is common among wealthy children.'_

Roy's thoughts were interrupted at the same time as Yui's speech when Ritsu had heard enough and decided to get the performance going. Yui smiled apologetically before saying, "And now, let's begin!" Yui's fingers took to the frets of her guitar as she began playing the opening riff to the next song.

Roy and Mio both watched Yui as she kept playing. "That seems like a fairly complicated riff," Roy muttered to himself. His expression turned to worry when he noticed the absent look on Yui's face. "Not good," he said. "I recognize that look. She forgot the lyrics!"

Therefore, Roy was surprised when he heard singing. It obviously wasn't Yui, so he looked across the stage to see who it was. "Ah!" he said quickly. Mio had quickly stepped in to fill the vocals. Roy smiled. Both of the girls were very good at singing. Yui joined in soon after as the girls began singing a duet. Roy sighed heavily._ 'That was close, Yui-chan...'_

Roy applauded and cheered along with the rest of the crowd, smiling brightly up at the stage. He knew the girls probably couldn't see him from their positions, but it didn't matter. They would be seeing a lot of each other once he joined the Light Music club.

A/N: Well, there's the first chapter for you. And hope you've enjoyed so far. There's certainly much more to come. Big thanks to Bloodstained Comma-chan for her great help is beta-reading and editing this chapter. It would have sucked without her (well maybe not, but it wouldn't have been as good!)

Oh! Translations! For those of you who know very little Japanese, I will do my best to translate the meager amount of Japanese I know.

Konnichiwa minna - Hello Everyone

Yuri - (ehh, you probably know this one anyway)

Sawa-baka-sensei - my name for Sawako-sensei used by myself and Bloodstained Comma-chan (baka means stupid or moron)

Sakura High School - the name of the high school where Yui and the others attend (it's shown in chapter 15 I believe)

Sensei - (I should hit you if you don't know this)

A/N August 30, 2009: Well, I went through and edited a little bit. Took some of the Japanese words. "Sensei" sounds cooler than "teacher" to me, so I kept it. I'll also be keeping the honorifics because it just seems weird without them. I'll probably avoid any other Japanese words, though. I'm debating on whether or not to use "Keionbu" for the club name, though.

A/N May 24, 2010: Fixed the formatting on my computer copy and reposted.


	2. Walk This Way

So I hope anyone who read the first chapter enjoyed it enough to read the second. So here it is.

Same disclaimers as before: I don't own anything. I don't own K-On! I don't own any Gibson® products or other equipments used.

Chit chat aside, I present the second chapter of "A Brand New Page."

* * *

Roy was still smiling when he returned to the club room later that afternoon. His thoughts focused mainly on the performance he had witnessed several hours ago. The allotted time had come for any final decisions for those wanting to join the Light Music club, and Roy was on his way to the club room to hand in his official application.

On his way up the second flight of stairs in building C, he noticed a young girl looking up towards the club room. He recognized the girl immediately as one of the two he had spoken to in the hallway before. She was the girl that looked remarkably like Yui. The girl's eyes were focused on the doors to the club room so much that she didn't notice Roy walking up the stairs.

"Heya," he said as he came up behind her. She jumped a little before looking back at him.

"Ah, you..." she said softly before smiling at him. "Are you going to join the Light Music club?" Her features were almost as pleading as Yui's had been when she asked the same question.

Roy nodded. "Yeah, I was just headed up to turn in the official application," he said as he looked at the girl. Her face brightened up considerably and she almost looked as if she could hug him right there in that stairwell.

The girl sighed contentedly before looking back up to the Light Music club room. "Thank goodness... Onee-chan will be happy." She seemed much calmer than she had been several seconds ago, but something she said made Roy think.

"Onee-chan?" he asked as he looked up at the doors to the club room as well. "Then you must be Yui-chan's sister," he continued as he looked back down as her. "You look a lot like her."

The girl blushed before smiling back at Roy. "Yes, I'm Ui," she said with a respectful bow. "Nice to meet you."

Roy nodded. "My name is Roy," he replied. "Nice to meet you as well." He looked between Ui and the club room several times before asking, "Have you been waiting here since the concert to see if anyone would come to join?"

Ui blushed again and looked back up at the doors. "Yeah, Onee-chan and the others have worked so hard to attract new members to the club," Ui said as she turned back around, "but you're the first person to come up here all afternoon."

Roy looked surprised for a moment. He remembered the animal cosplayers handing out flyers for the club earlier. _'That's probably what drove everyone away...'_ he said to himself. "Were you planning to join, Ui-chan?" he asked after a few seconds.

Ui looked back at him with a straight face. She shook her head as he replied, "No, I don't know how to play any instruments. I don't think I could actually be in the band."

Roy gave a mock frown as he looked back at her. "Aww, that's too bad," he said, earning a giggle from the girl. "Well, sorry, but I have to go. I think they have to turn this application in by 5:00." He waved good-bye and started up the stairs. "Later!"

Ui smiled as he left. "Later!" _'Thank goodness...someone joined,'_ she thought as she turned to head down the stairs. She gave one last look up the steps as she head Roy knocking on the door of the club room before continuing her descent.

Roy stuck his head through the door after hearing Ritsu yell, "Come in!" again. Roy smiled as he entered the room. "Hey everyone," he said as he held up his club application form. "I'm here to officially join!"

All the girls smiled and cheered after hearing this. Yui and Ritsu rushed right up to Roy and began asking him questions. "When is your birthday?" Yui asked.

"August twent-"

"What's your blood type?" Ritsu asked next before Roy could answer.

"Uhh...-"

"What's your favorite food?" Yui asked next.

"Eh... uhh... umm…" Roy couldn't find a moment to speak.

"Calm down girls!" Mio interrupted. She looked calmly at Roy with a smile. "What instrument do you play?"

Roy smiled. "Guitar," he replied.

Yui almost squealed in delight. "Me too!" she said, raising her hand excitedly.

Roy smiled nervously as a blush creeped up his face. _'This girl gets way too excited way too quickly... but she looks so cute...'_ His blush darkened, and he faked a nervous cough to try and cover it.

Ritsu noticed the blush, though, and a sinister smile crept across her face. _'This year is going to be very interesting!'_ she told herself. Roy became very frightened of the smile the girl was wearing and decided to change the subject.

"Umm... Which of you plays what instrument?" he asked. "Besides Yui-chan playing guitar obviously," he added.

Ritsu came out from her evil plotting for a moment to answer, "Drums!" before huddling herself back into a dark corner of the room to plot ways of getting Roy into more embarrassing situations with Yui. _'It was fun when I got to tease Mio... but now I have a new target!'_ she told herself.

Mio gave a strange look at Ritsu before turning back to Roy. "I play bass," she said simply. "Left-handed," she added after a second. Roy nodded in response.

Mugi smiled at Roy before answering, "Keyboard." Roy nodded to this as well. "I was trained on piano from a young age, but I don't think I'm all that good," Mugi continued.

Yui quickly responded, "No, Mugi-chan, you're great with the keyboard!" Both girls smiled brightly at this.

Roy looked at Mio with a questioning expression, but Mio just shook her head in embarrassment. "They're like this all the time," she whispered to him. Roy nodded in acknowledgement before looking back at the two girls that were now sharing a friendly hug.

Roy and Mio laughed a little bit as Ritsu came back over to join them. "So," he said after the laughter died down. "Is there anything else we need for tonight?"

Yui looked curious for a moment before an idea came to her. She walked over to where her guitar was sitting and brought it back over to Roy. She smiled as she said, "Play something for us."

Roy smiled apologetically. "Sorry, but I actually have a policy against using other musician's instruments," he said sadly. "I can bring my own guitar and play a bit for tomorrow, though."

Yui looked saddened, but brightened back up quickly. "Alright," she said. "I want to hear you play tomorrow, Roy-kun!" Roy blushed a little at hearing his name with the added honorific.

Ritsu smiled evilly again before continuing, "Yeah, we're all looking forward to it, Roy-kun." Roy didn't seem to blush as much this time.

Mio looked at Ritsu with a strange expression again before looking at everyone. "Okay, everyone, that's all for today," she said. "Roy, we meet here right after classes end." Roy nodded.

Mugi, who had been rather quiet for most of this meeting, suddenly asked, "Roy-kun, are you American?"

Everyone looked at Mugi with surprise before the girls turned back to look at Roy. The boy looked back at them sheepishly before replying, "Yeah, I am." Mugi smiled at him. "I figured it was obvious, though, so I never actually said anything about it," he continued. "My family moved to Japan just a few months ago."

The girls all looked a little surprised at this. "Just a few months ago?" Mio asked. Roy nodded silently. "How did you learn Japanese so quickly?"

"Oh, we were planning to move here for a year now," he replied. "My dad owns a chain of guitar shops and he decided to expand his business to Japan." The girls nodded in response. "So he was been planning the move for a while, and we've all been learning Japanese for a year."

Mio nodded quietly. "Okay, that would certainly explain it," she admitted. "But I can hardly tell it in your accent at all."

Roy laughed sheepishly. "Eh, I've always been a quick study when it came to other languages," he said. "I used to know Spanish fairly well, but I can't remember most of it now since I've learned Japanese."

Mio nodded again. "Okay, well, we will see you tomorrow after classes, Roy," she said. "Oh!" she added quickly before Roy could even turn towards the door. "What class are you in, by the way?"

"Class 2-2," Roy replied. Mio looked surprised.

"That's the same class I'm in," she said. "Everyone else is in 2-1."

Ritsu realized a problem, though. "Wait," she said quickly. "Aren't you a freshman? How can you be in the second level classes?"

Roy sighed. "I'm entering as a second-year student," he replied. "I finished up my freshman year in America."

Ritsu simply nodded. "Alright, well sorry," she said with a small laugh. "Didn't mean to keep you this long."

"No, don't worry about it," Roy responded. He turned towards the door and called, "See you all tomorrow!" on his way out.

* * *

((A/N: Any conversations that only involve Roy and his parents will take place in "English" as opposed to "Japanese." It just seems like that would be easier on them as long as they're by themselves.))

"I'm home!" Roy called as he entered his house. The building wasn't far from Sakura High, so he was able to walk the distance. Both of his parents greeted him from separate parts of the house. Roy's mother was in the kitchen preparing dinner while his father was probably in his music studio.

Roy's mother was a good-looking woman with fair skin and a toned figure. Her hair was medium length and dark orange. She had a wonderful singing voice, but had never attempted to become famous; her family was more important to her. She decided, instead, to become a teacher of music, helping children find their own unique voice inside themselves. For that purpose, Melissa Page was now teaching vocals classes at Sakuragaoka High School. Singing in Japanese wasn't particularly easy for her, but the mechanics of singing were common nature to Melissa.

Roy's father was a rather handsome man with lightly tanned skin. He was a little overweight, but managed to present himself in a good figure anyway. His jet black hair was short, about 2 inches long and generally combed straight back. Although mainly proficient in playing bass guitar, Ryan Page was also fairly gifted in playing guitar and drums. When Roy was only four years old, Ryan opened his own music store, selling all types of music equipment. By the time Roy turned 13, Ryan's chain of stores had opened in several other cities and some in nearby states. Ryan Page's franchise, known as "Turn the Page," was making incredible business until the economy in America fell through. Ryan and his family (and his board of associates) decided to expand the chain of stores to Japan, where rock music was becoming greatly popular at the time.

Roy thought about how lucky he was to have such music-savvy parents. Without their encouragement, Roy probably would have been one of those kids that sat around all day doing nothing but playing games or reading fanfiction. Roy knew he was a very lucky child to have such loving parents.

After Melissa finished making dinner, the three of them sat down at the dinner table to eat (okay, I know it's hard to imagine a family actually eating together, but try.) After a while, Ryan decided to start a conversation. "So, Roy how was the first day of school?" he asked in English. "Did you decide on a club?"

Roy nodded. "Yeah, I'm joining the Light Music club," he replied. "The band gave a live performance and invited all of the new freshmen to come. Since I was there for orientation as well, I decided to go. And the band was pretty good."

Ryan nodded with a smile. "Alright, sounds good," he said enthusiastically. "How many people are in the band?"

"Any girls?" his mother asked with a strange emphasis.

Roy blushed before answering, "Yeah. In fact, the only members of the Light Music club are four girls."

Ryan laughed a little. "Ha! That's my boy! Get in good with all the girls!"

Roy blushed harder. "Dad!" he warned before laughing along with him.

The laughter continued in the Page household for some time.

* * *

It was a long day of first classes that seemed to drag on forever for Roy. He was waiting until 3 o'clock when he would have his first practice session with the Light Music club. However, the clock was being particularly unhelpful in moving faster towards that destination.

'_Ah, why can't the clock go any faster?'_ he was screaming to himself. _'Only five more minutes! Can't we just skip it and leave?'_ Roy looked boredly across the classroom. Mio was in his class, but she was paying attention to whatever assignment they were supposed to be doing. _'Mio-chan's a bookworm...'_

Roy jumped a little as the bell rang for classes to end. Some of the girls in the class giggled a bit before getting up to leave. Roy blushed a bit as he raised himself from his desk. Mio walked over with another girl that Roy didn't know behind her. "Good afternoon, Roy," Mio said with a polite smile.

"Hey, Mio-chan," Roy replied with a smile of his own.

Mio motioned to the girl behind her and said, "This is Manabe Nodoka-san," Mio said. "She works on the student council and helps with reminding Ritsu about certain application forms she forgets to turn in," she continued with a laugh.

Roy and Nodoka laughed as well. "Nice to meet you, Roy-kun," Nodoka said.

"Nice to meet you, too," Roy replied.

"I imagine you two were headed to the Light Music club room now that classes are over," Nodoka continued. Mio and Roy both nodded. "Good, I actually need to come, too. It seems Ritsu didn't actually turn in your application form last night."

Mio didn't look surprised, but Roy looked a little saddened. Mio quickly caught this and asked, "But he can still participate in the club today, right?"

Nodoka smiled and nodded. "Sure, as long as I get that form from Ritsu, there should be no problem."

Roy brightened up considerably and smiled at the two girls. "Alright, let's go!" he said as the three marched off towards the club room.

"Hello!" Mio called as they entered the club room. Roy and Nodoka repeated the greeting as they entered as well. Yui, Ritsu, and Mugi looked up as they entered and echoed the greeting back. Yui quickly noticed the odd shape on Roy's back and realized what it was.

"Ah!" she said excitedly. "Roy-kun brought his guitar for us!" Ritsu and Mugi cheered along with the hyperactive girl as Mio shook her head in a bit of embarrassment.

"Before that," Nodoka interjected with a stern look, "I need to get Roy-kun's application form from Ritsu."

Ritsu quickly stopped her cheering and almost fell over in surprise. "Oh, did I forget to turn that in?" she asked awkwardly as she righted her balance.

Nodoka nodded sternly and held out her hand expectantly. Ritsu searched through her bag and pulled out the form, presenting to the girl. "Sorry, sorry..." Yui and Mugi laughed sadly at her before turning back to Roy.

Nodoka stepped out the door as Yui asked, "Okay, can you play something for us, now?" The excited look on her face caused Roy to blush a bit, and said blush caused Ritsu's smile to turn slightly devious.

"Yeah, Roy-kun, why don't you play us a love song or something?" she asked mockingly.

Surprisingly, Roy laughed at this before setting his guitar case down and unzipping it to reveal a blue silverburst Gibson Les Paul. Roy removed the guitar from its case and walked over to one of the chairs in the room near the stage. He quickly tuned the guitar to the standard E A D G B E tuning before plugging the cord into the nearby amp. He strummed once to check his work before smiling satisfactorily.

He looked up at Ritsu. "I will play a love song, Ritsu-chan," he said abruptly, causing all of the girls to blush, "but I think we might have different interpretations of what a real love song is."

As he finished the sentence, Roy quickly jumped into the opening riff of "Walk This Way" by Aerosmith. Yui quickly became entranced by the way Roy's fingers were moving along the neck as he progressed into the verse of the song. He didn't stay there long and quickly moved into the chorus. After only a few seconds, Roy quickly jumped into the first solo of the song. By now, all of the girls were greatly impressed. Roy stopped at the end of the first solo and looked up.

All of the girls, Yui especially, were blushing after hearing Roy play. Ritsu's mouth was slightly agape, and Mio's eyes had widened a little bit. Mugi seemed generally unaffected compared to the others, but Yui was beginning to look utterly ragged.

'_Ah!'_ she screamed to herself. _'He's so much better than me!'_

Roy smiled sheepishly and sweat-dropped at the girls' expressions. "Uhh... How was it?" he asked.

Ritsu was about to answer, but Yui beat her to the punch. "Awesome!" she screamed happily. "Really cool, Roy-kun!"

The other girls faulted a little at this, but regained their composure as Roy laughed. "Yeah," he said. "I've been playing for ten years, really. This stuff is actually kind of second nature to me now." This caused another fault among the girls and Roy sweat-dropped again.

Mio looked back at Roy before asking, "So you're an Aerosmith fan then?" Yui looked over at the girl curiously as Roy nodded.

"Yeah, they're my favorite band," he replied. "I've been listening to Aerosmith for about seven years now. Joe Perry is my favorite guitarist."

Yui looked thoroughly confused now. "Hang on a second!" she said quickly. "What is oreosmith and who is Joe Pelly?"

Everyone in the room looked at Yui with a very strange expression. Roy sighed. "Obviously, Yui-chan," he began softly, "Aerosmith is a band. And Joe Perry is the main guitarist." Yui nodded in acknowledgement.

"Okay, I get it," she replied feebly.

Roy shook his head at the girl in front of him and sighed. _'This is gonna be a long school year.'

* * *

_

A/N: Well, there we go. It took me a while, but it was actually mostly finished in one day. I'd like to thank Bloodstained Comma-chan for proof-reading once again and providing some minor intel on guitars. Also thanks to the 2 favorites and the alert for Chapter 1.

Please review! I'd like a review for this before I work on chapter 3. I'll even take a flame really. I'd like to know that someone cares enough to say something about my work though.

Translations:

Onee-chan - big sister

A/N August 30, 2009: Edited a bit and fixed Japanese words. Kept "Onee-chan" because "big sister" sounds stupid to me.

A/N May 24, 2010: Fixed formatting on my computer copy. Changed Sakuragaoka to Sakura High.


	3. Sweet Emotion

Well chapter three here. As of the time I'm writing this, no reviews yet, but I'm bored so here comes the writing.

Same disclaimers: No own. No own. No own. (I do own my OCs, though...a little)

* * *

"Yo everyone!" a mature feminine voice called from the doorway. Everyone's attention was quickly drawn to the door as Sawako walked in. She immediately noticed everyone gathered around the young boy sitting in a chair. After a moment's confusion, Sawako quickly realized what was going on. "I assume he is our new member," she said, pointing to Roy.

Mio nodded a little. _'Ah! I forgot about Roy having to meet Sawako-sensei... Hopefully this won't be too weird,'_ Mio attempted to reassure herself. "Yes, this is Roy...uhh...umm..." Mio turned to look at Roy awkwardly. "Sorry... What is your surname?"

Roy face-faulted a bit before smiling back up at the girls who were laughing nervously now. "Page," he replied simply.

"Right," Mio continued as she turned back to Sawako. "This is Page Roy-"

"Roy Page, please," said boy interrupted. "I prefer my given name first, especially since I'm American." The boy placed his guitar pick in his left hand as he reached his right up to greet the teacher properly. "Nice to meet you," he said with a polite smile.

Sawako accepted his hand and shook it politely as well. "I'm Yamanaka Sawako," she replied. "I'm the advisor for the Light Music club. Nice to meet you as well." The foxy grin that appeared on her features as she held his hand sent shivers up Roy's spine. The boy quickly pulled his hand back before looking around at the girls still crowding him.

"Did you want to hear anything else?" he asked.

The girls smiled back at him. Ritsu answered first. "Nope, I think that'll be fine, Roy-kun," she said before turning back to Sawako. "Sawa-chan-sensei, Roy is very good at guitar." She cast a wary glance at Yui before whispering to the teacher, "He's even better than Yui. He said he's been playing for ten years now." Sawako's eyes widened a bit as another foxy grin graced her features.

"Hmm, well," Sawako began, "it seems like we have a competition for lead guitarist then. Which one of you wants it?"

Roy looked at Yui at the same time as the girl looked at him. Both guitarists blushed and looked away. "I think Roy-kun should be the lead," Yui said softly. She lifted her head up to look at everyone with a bright face. "He's so much better than me!" she said excitedly, surprising everyone. "I mean, did you see his fingers moving during that solo? That was so cool!"

Everyone just stared at Yui as she continued on about how awesome Roy was. Mio finally looked back at Roy. "It looks like you're our lead guitarist," she said.

"Okay then." He clapped his hands together as he set his guitar back into its case so he could stand up. Mugi looked down at the guitar as he set it down and noticed some writing on the inside of the case along where the neck of the guitar lies.

"Robot Guitar?" she whispered the writing. Roy looked up at the girl with a smile. "Hey, Roy-kun, what is a 'Robot Guitar?'"

Roy sighed softly before answering, "It's a special type of guitar from Gibson. It has a built-in computer which allows the guitar to actually tune itself. I don't bother with the computer, though," he added as he leaned back in his chair. "I'd rather just tune the guitar myself. Having the computer do it is like cheating."

All of the girls looked at Roy with a little added appreciation... which was saying something after that guitarical display a moment ago. Yui stared at the blueish-silver guitar for a moment. "Les Paul..." she thought out loud before realization dawned on her and she went to grab her own guitar.

Holding the guitar down near Roy's, Yui examined both guitars. Turning up to look at Mio, she asked, "My guitar is a Les Paul, too?" Mio nodded.

"Yep," Roy answered as he stood up fully, "but yours is a regular Les Paul. It doesn't have the automatic tuning like mine." Yui nodded.

"Okay…" she replied.

Sawako suddenly turned to Mugi and said, "I'll have milk tea please." Mugi nodded and walked back over to the makeshift table of desks to prepare some tea. The rest of the girls followed her over and began placing their orders as well. Roy stared in disbelief at the group as the Light Music club quickly turned into a tea party.

"Oi!" he said quickly. "What is this? The tea party club? Shouldn't we start practicing now that you have a new member?" Roy attempted to look angry, but his rumbling stomach gave away his hunger. Yui and Ritsu began to giggle a little as Roy sighed. "Alright, I'll have a bit of cake, too." The two girls finally burst out laughing and Roy turned away to hide his blush.

Mugi stepped over and brought him a slice of cake. He accepted it graciously with a smile before pulling his chair up to the table as well. He stabbed a piece of the cake with a fork that Mugi had also handed him. _'Eh… incredible!'_ Roy couldn't believe cake this good was made by a 15-year old girl.

"H-hey... Mugi-chan..." Roy could barely get the words from his mouth. "Did you make this cake?"

Mugi shook her head. "No," she replied softly. "Most of the stuff I bring was given to my family."

Roy nodded. "Your family is fairly wealthy, right?" Roy asked in return.

Mugi nodded back. "Yes, my family owns several villas around Japan," she continued. "In fact, we used one of the villas for our training camp last summer."

"Training camp?" Roy asked. Ritsu and Mio looked at him.

"Yeah," Mio began. "We had a training camp last summer. We all went out to Mugi's villa for a few weeks and practiced, although we probably spent more time goofing off than practicing," she added with a glare at Ritsu and Yui, who laughed sheepishly and smiled.

"Sorry," Yui offered.

Roy looked curious. "Just the five of you?" he asked. Sawako shook her head.

"No, I didn't go last year," she said. "They took the trip before I became the advisor. I was hoping we were going to take another trip this year, actually." She glanced in Mio's direction who glanced at Ritsu who glanced at Yui who was staring off into space randomly.

'_Very bright people, they are,'_ Roy told himself with a sigh. "So, _are_ you planning a training camp this year?" Roy asked after a moment.

Mio frowned a bit. "Well, we had been thinking about it," she began slowly. "But with you joining the club now, we have a problem." Roy looked curious for a second before realization flashed across his face which was almost immediately replaced by a slight blush.

"Oh," was all Roy could say. "Yeah, I hadn't actually thought about that. Well, I suppose if Mugi-chan's villa is large enough, I promise to keep myself on one of the building while sleeping and bathing and you all can have your own section." Roy smiled shyly and his blush deepened a little.

Ritsu and Mio looked slightly surprised by this. _'So gentlemanly...'_ Mio thought. _'He really is a sweet guy, although it seems he's already taken a liking to Yui by how he blushes when he gets close to her. Or maybe he's just shy.'_ Mio shook her head. _'Either way, he'll be an easy target for Ritsu.'_ Said girl was still surprised from Roy's declaration, her mouth hanging open slightly.

Mugi was handing more cake to Sawako and Yui was still staring randomly, although it now seemed she was staring at her guitar which could be seen just over Roy's shoulder. Mio sighed. "So when do you all think we should hold the training camp?" she asked loud enough to pull all of the girls from their thoughts and actions.

Ritsu answered first, "First week of summer vacation!" to which Yui quickly agreed. Sawako approved as well, but Mugi shook her head.

"I'm sorry," she said. "My family will be traveling that week." Mugi smiled weakly. "We will be back for the second week of vacation, though."

Ritsu nodded happily. "Okay, second week of vacation it is!" she repeated with a broad smile and a fist pump.

Mio smiled before saying, "But it's still a few months until vacation." Ritsu abruptly stopped her cheering and stared at Mio with a blank face. "And we have finals in five months," Mio added darkly.

Ritsu smiled sheepishly and waved it off. "No matter," she said offhandedly. "I'll just have you help me in an all-night cram session as usual." Ritsu smiled, but paled at the stern look on Mio's features.

"What if I said I wasn't planning on helping you this time?" she asked.

Ritsu almost fainted right there. Roy took this moment to ask his next question. "Are we going to practice today?" he asked with the same force that Mio had just used. All of the girls quickly nodded and left for their instruments. Roy got up and followed them shortly after.

* * *

_2 weeks later..._

"Hey, Yui-chan, could you play the opening riff to that song again?"

"Sure," the girl replied before playing the riff. Roy nodded after she finished and repeated the exact same riff on his own guitar, a Gibson Flying V.

"Thanks, Yui-chan," he said with a smile at the girl. "It helps me figure the song out when I can hear it played by someone else."

Yui nodded and blushed a little. "Yeah, I'm kinda the same way," she replied.

"I think a lot of guitarists are like that," Roy said. "That's how I learned to play really. I listened to the songs and tried to repeat them on my own guitar." Roy grinned sheepishly. "It took me a few months before I could play a full song like that."

Yui did little to hide the shocked expression on her face. "Months?" she asked. "Was it a really tough song?"

"Actually," Roy began, "It wasn't really that difficult of a song." Roy grinned again. "It was just that trying to figure out each note of the song just by listening to it was difficult at first."

"Why didn't you use tabs?" Mio interrupted as she walked up to the guitarists.

Roy turned to look at the brunette girl. "I never liked using tabs," he said simply. "I'd prefer to just learn on my own. A lot of professional guitarists say it's better to stay away from using tabs as much as possible." Mio nodded.

"Tabs?" Yui asked.

Roy smiled back at his fellow guitarist. "Yeah, tabs are basically things that explain exactly what note to play for a song," he explained. "You can find tabs for almost any song online, but like I said, you're probably better off not using them. They're really only for people just starting to learn how to play." Roy looked at Yui. "But you're obviously too good to just be starting out, right?"

Yui blushed, causing Roy to look confused. "Well, I actually just started about a year ago," she replied honestly.

Roy whistled softly. "You're very good at playing for only having a year of experience, Yui-chan," he said with another smile.

"Umm… thank you, Roy-kun," the girl replied before going back to play a different part of her song.

Roy watched as the girl played her riff, his face twisted in thought about the song itself. "Yui-chan," he offered as she finished, "that last part that you played would be better if you added in palm mutes."

Yui looked back at the boy with a blank face. "What's a 'palm mute?'"

Roy face-faulted again before sending a desperate look to Mio. "She's like this even though she's been playing for a year," Mio replied flatly. Roy nodded.

"How do you play guitar for a year without knowing what a palm mute is?" he whispered before turning back to the cute guitarist in question. "Okay, a palm mute is when you cover the strings lightly near the bridge of the guitar to muffle and distort the sound. It's like this," Roy added as he showed the difference by playing some mutes and then some regular notes.

Yui nodded with a happy smile before attempting the riff with mutes added in. After a few tries her timing was perfect and Roy gave her a thumbs up. Yui smiled happily again and thanked Roy for his help.

"It's no problem at all, Yui-chan," he replied. "Oh, here let me show you another cool trick with the guitar." Roy played a sustained note and quickly moved his fingers up and down on the string, bending it only slightly. "This is called a 'vibrato.'" Yui watched eagerly as he repeated the vibrato.

Realization struck Yui as she played the vibrato on her own guitar. "Oh, this is like choking," she said softly.

Roy looked mildly surprised. "Oh, so you already know about choke," he laughed. "That makes my job easier then."

"Yep," Yui laughed as well. "Mio taught them to me at the last training camp."

* * *

_2 months until exams..._

Sawako smiled at all of the club members as she walked in. "Hey everyone," she said before she heard the greeting repeated back to her. Sawako looked back through the open doorway with a kind smile and nodded. Another woman walked in with a bright smile as well.

The woman was slim, but healthily so. She carried herself with confidence that only a woman of her forty-*coughmumble*- years could express. Her eyes were a chocolate brown color and her hair was dark orange. Melissa Page smiled at the Light Music club as she entered the room.

"Hello everyone," she said kindly.

Roy smiled brightly back at her. He answered before any of the girls could, "Hello, mom."

All four girls stopped dead in their tracks and stared at Roy, who seemed unsurprised by their gazes. They barely heard the woman reply, "Hello, Roy-kun," before she walked over to hug her son.

As soon as his mom let go, Roy turned to the club and explained, "This is my mom, Melissa Page. Mom, this is Hirasawa Yui-chan, Akiyama Mio-chan, Tainaka Ritsu-chan, and Kotobuki Tsumugi-chan," as he pointed to each girl in succession. Melissa smiled brightly and nodded to each girl.

"Nice to meet you all," she said in the same bright voice.

Mio was the first to ask, "Why is your mom here?" Her voice was normal, but her face still showed moderate signs of shock.

Melissa still smiled at the girls. "I work here at the school, actually," she replied. All four girls face-faulted again before Melissa continued, "I work in the music department, vocals specifically."

Mio blinked and regained her composure again. "You're a singer?" she asked.

Melissa shook her head softly. "Not famously," she replied solemnly, "although I've heard from many agents that I could have been famous years ago." Melissa sighed happily before continuing, "But I knew that lifestyle wasn't for me, and Roy had just been born so I couldn't go off and leave my only child so I could be famous." Melissa smiled brightly again. "I'd never take back what I did for the world."

Roy blushed. "Mom, you're embarrassing me," he said sarcastically.

"Sorry, honey," his mom replied.

Sawako finally spoke up, "Melissa-san is here to train Yui-chan and Mio-chan in singing." The two girls looked between Sawako and Melissa before Yui smiled.

"You can teach me to sing better?" the excited girl asked. Melissa nodded in response. "Hooray!" Yui immediately ran up and hugged the woman around her waist. Melissa laughed as she returned the hug. She gave a pleading look to the rest of the room.

"She's always like this," everyone said at once before Melissa sweat-dropped.

Mio regained her composure and bowed as Yui pulled away. "Thank you very much, Melissa-sensei," Mio said respectfully.

Melissa laughed and shook her head. "None of that now, Mio-chan," she replied. "Call me Melissa-san or Melissa-chan."

"Okay, Melissa-chan," Yui and Mio repeated at the same time.

* * *

_1 week until exams..._

Mio smiled as Nodoka walked up to her desk holding a bento box. "Mio, want to eat lunch together?" the student council member asked. Mio nodded brightly.

"Ah, Roy-kun?" she called to the boy. He looked towards Mio as she said, "Come eat with us, too." Roy nodded with a smile before walking over as well.

"Afternoon, Mio-chan, Nodoka-chan," Roy said as he sat down. Both girls returned the greeting and opened the boxes of food in front of them. Roy opened his as well and they began eating. Roy quickly noted the relaxed expression on Mio's features as she ate.

'_It must feel good for her to get away from the calamity of the music room,'_ he told himself. _'It really does feel good now that I think about it. But I can't relax too much; finals are in only a week.'_

"How is the Light Music club doing?" Nodoka asked. "Is Yui doing well?"

Roy nodded, but Mio replied, "When she remembers one thing, she forgets another. It's a disaster."

Roy laughed. "I can be the same way sometimes," he said and the two girls laughed lightly with him as well.

"Ah yes!" Nodoka continued after a moment. "Once she does something, she gets to an amazing level, though." Roy and Mio nodded their agreement.

A gleeful look crossed Mio's features again as she reveled in how great it was to talk quietly with friends.

"SURPRISE ATTACK!"

"Kya!" Mio nearly fell out of her chair as Ritsu appeared out of nowhere. Roy had jumped a bit, but maintained his composure successfully.

Mio began crying a bit as Ritsu hugged her friend. "Aren't you three getting along well?" she asked with a teasing grin.

"Hiyo!" Yui said as she approached as well.

Roy waved and replied, "Hiya, Yui-chan." Yui blushed a little at the bright smile on Roy's face, but passed it off easily as Nodoka inquired as to their presence in the classroom.

"It's rare for you to come over to this class for lunch," she said.

Yui laughed nervously before explaining, "Actually, it's about the finals." Roy laughed a bit as well.

"Rejected," Nodoka quickly replied.

If Roy looked surprised, Yui looked like she had just been called fat. "I," she began as the shock wore off, "I haven't even said anything yet!"

Nodoka failed to look at her friend as she said, "You're just going to ask me to teach you again, right?" Yui nodded as Roy, Ritsu, and Mio watched on. "If you don't do it yourself, you won't become better."

"You're mean Nodoka-chan," Yui said grumpily.

Roy smiled nervously. "I'll help you study, Yui-chan," he offered suddenly. Everyone stopped and looked at him before looking back to Yui, whose face was blank.

Everyone jumped as Yui suddenly lunged forward to hug the boy, saying, "Oh, thank you, Roy-kun!" Roy was immediately blushing as the other girls laughed at his embarrassment.

Yui pulled back and grinned brightly before continuing, "You can come to my house this Friday and study with me!"

The group went silent.

To say Roy was shocked would be like saying Chuck Norris is awesome. Understatement of the century. Nodoka, Ritsu, and Mio were wearing similar expressions, but Ritsu's quickly changed to a mischievous smile.

Roy quickly righted himself as well before nodding nervously. "S-sure," he said. "Friday night then." Yui nodded as well as she and Ritsu left to return to their own classroom.

As soon as the girls left, Roy looked pleadingly at the others. "What do I do?" he asked sadly as tears streamed quickly down his face.

"Don't screw it up!" Mio and Nodoka replied quickly.

* * *

_Friday night, Exams begin Monday..._

Roy was nervous. Okay, Roy was crapping himself nervous. He was staring down a fire-breathing dragon while only holding a (very flammable) notebook and a pencil. Yeah, Roy was nervous.

But nerves hadn't stopped him from entering the Light Music club and nerves wouldn't stop him now. _'After all,'_ Roy reassured himself, _'it's only a study session, right?'_ Roy gulped audibly and his face fell. _'Right?'_

Roy attempted to push away the nervousness as he knocked on the front door of the Hirasawa residence. "I wonder if Yui-chan's parents will be home," Roy mumbled idly before blushing again. "What if we're here by ourselves?" Roy quickly regained himself as the door opened to reveal a younger version of the girl he had been thinking about.

"Good evening," Ui said from the doorway with a smile. "Roy-kun?" Roy nodded his reply. "Ah, Onee-chan is upstairs taking a shower. You can wait for her in the front room," Ui continued as she opened the door to let him in.

Roy ignored the statement about the shower as he walked in. "'Onee-chan?'" Ui nodded and Roy suddenly remembered. "Ah! Ui-chan!"

The girl nodded again. "Yep, you remember!"

Roy nodded as well. "Sorry, it's been a while since we met, and we haven't seen each other since." Ui nodded again.

"Yep, it's been... five months?" she asked. Roy nodded again.

"It's gone by so fast, though," he said. "The Light Music club really is fun." His smile fell a bit. "I wish we would practice more than sitting around eating cake, but it's okay."

Ui laughed a bit. "Well, like I said, Onee-chan is in the shower, so it'll be a while before she's ready." Ui began walking towards the kitchen. "You can sit around for a while or study or whatever. Just don't go upstairs."

Roy felt his cheeks turn red again a bit and nodded. "Alright," he replied as he sat down on the sofa. _'Yui-chan's house...'_

Roy placed his notebook and pencil on the coffee table and began working a few easy problems. He looked up when he heard a voice call down the stairs.

"Ui! Is Roy-kun here yet?" Yui asked as she walked slowly down the staircase.

Roy started to answer, but Ui came running into the room, yelling, "Onee-chan! Don't come down in just a bath towel!"

Roy respectfully resisted the urge to look up at the stairs, but still felt a trickle of blood fall from his nose. Quickly composing himself, he called up as well. "I'm here, Yui-chan!"

Yui ran back up the stairs. "Sorry!" she called back. "I'll be down in a minute!"

Roy looked at the younger sister for a moment. "How did you know that she would be wearing just a bath towel?" he asked flatly. "She hadn't even come down the first few steps and you were in the kitchen anyway."

Ui giggled at the obvious embarrassment Roy was suffering from. "I know my sister better than anyone," she said simply. "She's used to coming down in just a towel after her shower. We hardly ever have company since it's just the two of us here."

Roy kept nodding silently, but surprise was etched onto his face at the end. "Two?" he asked simply. "What about your parents?"

Ui sighed lightly. "Our parents are very busy and they travel a lot," she said. "So it's just me and Onee-chan most of the time." Ui smiled weakly. "Roy-kun..."

Roy looked confused. "Yeah, Ui-chan?"

The girl didn't say anything for a moment, but finally mumbled, "Take care of Onee-chan," before disappearing back into the kitchen.

Roy stood there for a moment before the true meaning of those words hit him. His face flushed again and he almost fell back onto the couch. The only reason he hadn't fallen was the pair of arms gripping his shoulders. He turned around to find Yui-chan grinning at him cutely.

Roy blushed deeper and took a step away from the girl. He noticed that she was now wearing a loose pink blouse and white shorts. _'Cute...'_ Roy thought. "Okay, time to st-"

"Time to eat!" Ui called from the kitchen.

"Yahoo!" Yui called as Roy face-faulted before following the girl into the kitchen.

'_I had dinner before I came over...'_ Roy reminded himself. _'Well, it would be rude to refuse, so I'll eat just a little.'_ Roy smiled as he sat down at the table. Yui was across from him and Ui was in the seat next to her.

"I had dinner a little while before I came over, so I'm not that hungry," Roy admitted with a sheepish laugh. "But I don't mind eating a bite or two. Need food to get the brain going anyway, right?"

The two sisters nodded eagerly. "Roy-kun is a second-year student, right?" Ui asked.

Roy nodded. "Yeah, I'm in the same class as Mio-chan and Nodoka-chan."

Ui smiled. "I'm still a freshman," she admitted. "But I think the exams are going to be easy enough. I'm glad you're helping Onee-chan study, Roy-kun. Usually she would have asked me or Nodoka-chan."

Roy nodded. Yui answered, "Well I did ask Nodoka-chan. But she turned me down." She smiled at Roy for a moment before continuing, "But Roy-kun offered to help me, and I asked him to come over tonight."

Ui bowed slightly in her chair. "Thanks, Roy-kun!" she said.

"Don't worry," he replied with a small laugh. "It's nothing. Studying with a partner is better for me, too."

* * *

_10 o'clock that evening..._

"Yui-chan, do you understand this?" Roy asked dully. His question was greeted by a soft sound like a cat purring. He looked up and noticed that his study partner had fallen asleep. "She's asleep..." _'She looks even cuter when she's asleep.'_

Roy spared at glance to the stairs behind him as he sat on the floor in front of the coffee table. Ui had gone to bed a while ago, so it was really just the two of them now. Roy blushed for what seemed like the hundredth time that night as he turned back to look at Yui.

Pushing back his nerves again, Roy smoothly reached over and nudged the girl's shoulder. "Yui-chan," he whispered in a vain attempt to wake her. "Yui-chan," he said stronger.

The girl shuffled a bit, but remained asleep. "Roy-kun..." she mumbled contently.

Roy immediately stopped with his hand still in front of him. His body refused to move from the shock. Sweat began forming on his brow and a blush darker than any before it crept its way up his neck. He gulped and forced his hand to nudge the girl one last time.

"Yui-chan," he said softer than before. "You need to wake up. We need to keep studying." He smiled as the girl squirmed again.

"No," she said childishly and Roy blushed again. "I want to play guitar like Roy-kun."

He nearly face-faulted again, but Roy kept himself composed. He laughed again before leaving the girl to her sleep. "It's okay, we studied enough for tonight," he whispered to himself. He wrote a note for the girl explaining that they had covered more than enough material for her to pass so she wouldn't worry.

Roy smiled warmly at the sleeping girl as he collecting his possessions quietly. He stopped and leaned over to the sleeping girl. _'She'll have cramps in her back if she sleeps like this all night,'_ he told himself. Roy gently lifted the girl and carried her bridal-style to the sofa. He laid her down, placing a soft pillow underneath her head.

After a moment's hesitation, he kissed her forehead lightly and left.

He failed to notice the pair of eyes that watched him from the staircase as he left, however. "Take care of her," Ui said as she left for her bedroom.

* * *

_(A/N: The anime said that the technique Mio taught Yui was vibrato, but it was actually a choke. Vibrato is actually a rapid motion of up-and-down chokes only without bending the string near as much as a regular choke. Search for Brian Kahanek on YouTube, he uses vibrato a lot and is a truly awesome guitarist overall. And thanks to Comma-chan for explaining the difference between the two techniques to me.)_

So this took a while, but that's expected since it's longer than my other chapters. Hope you liked the cute moment at the end. I give Roy such a hard time embarrassing him; I figured he deserved a break. Also, I'm going to totally send him to Hell in the next chapter with the training camp, so this makes up for it.

Translations!:

Kya - (no literal translation as far as I know, but just a surprised sound)

A/N August 30, 2009: Edited some part and fixed more Japanese words. This is very boring. I'm probably going to stop for right now.

A/N May 24, 2010: Fixed formatting of my computer copy.


	4. Angel

Hmm, still no reviews. And the numbers of hits on each chapter has gone down considerably for each update. I'm basically writing for my own enjoyment at this point. Which is fine because that's really my main reason for writing anyway. So yeah, for the three of you reading, here's chapter 3.

I still own nothing. My OCs have even disowned me. As Mio so rightfully said, "an unexpected betrayal."

* * *

"Tada!" Ritsu yelled as she showed off her test. Yui watched Ritsu with a hint of admiration.

"Wow, Ricchan is amazing," the bubbly girl admitted. Roy snorted through a laugh, but passed it off as a sneeze.

"Of course," Ritsu replied. "This is my true ability." Behind the egotistical girl Mio brooded quietly.

"I'm really tired..." Mio whispered softly.

Mugi appeared behind the brunette and said, "Thanks for your hard work, Mio," with a knowing smile. A shocked expression crossed Mio's face and Mugi just giggled softly.

Roy watched the group as they shared their exam results. He had gotten a 90. Not quite good as Roy had been hoping, but it was a good score. With Roy's help, Yui had scored an 88. Both students were very proud of themselves, but for different reasons.

'_I can't believe what I did before I left that night,'_ Roy told himself. _'Weird, though... It seemed like Yui-chan looked a lot happier in her sleep after I... yeah.'_ Roy was beginning to blush slightly as he thought about the previous Friday night. It was now Wednesday afternoon and the Keion club was comparing all of their scores from Monday's exam.

Mio quickly turned to Yui and asked the girl, "Ah, how was your test, Yui?" The guitarist smiled proudly.

"Thanks to Roy-kun, this test was no problem," she replied. Roy smiled at the girl, causing both guitarists to blush. This exchange did not go unnoticed by the rest of the group, but they decided to wave it off for now. Questions would come later. Right now, they had to begin planning for the big training camp trip that was coming up in a few weeks.

* * *

"It's nice that we're getting out to this training camp," Roy said as he and the girls walked through the mall. He was receiving some jealous looks from several guys for the fact that he was walking around with four cute girls, but he ignored them easily. "By the way," he continued to grab the girls' attention, "what are we here to buy?"

Ritsu flashed an evil smile as they stopped in front of a particular store. Roy's face filled with dread and embarrassment at what he saw in the window of the store and the words that came out of Yui's mouth.

"Bathing suits!" she replied, utterly oblivious to Roy's current condition.

Ritsu was about to tease the boy about his situation when he quickly regained his composure. "Well you girls have fun then," he said to interrupt the scheming girl. "I'm gonna head to that electronics store over there and see if they have any good music."

He walked off calmly, leaving Ritsu with her mouth hanging open slightly. Mio and Ritsu had the same thought at the exact same moment; _'He's really mature...'_ Mio smiled as the boy left. She turned to Yui, who was curious as to what exactly was happening. "You're lucky, Yui," she said simply.

Yui was even more confused now. "Why, Mio-chan?"

Mio sweat-dropped and turned back to the store that Roy had entered. "You'll find out eventually, Yui."

Yui decided to leave Mio to her cryptic messages as they continued in to get their new bathing suits.

Roy bobbed his head up and down with the beat of the song he was listening to. The headphones wrapped around his head securely and blocked out almost all of the outside noise from Roy's hearing. His entire being was the music right now. Because of this, he failed to notice the female guitarist walking silently up to him.

The boy jumped about a foot in the air when he felt the girl's arms wrap around his neck from behind. "Roy-kun!" Yui called. Roy sighed and attempted to settle his heartbeat to a safe level before he keeled over from a heart attack.

"You startled me, Yui-chan," he said simply with a small smile. Yui smiled back apologetically. "Hey, I found some music I think you should listen to," he continued.

Yui looked interested. "Okay."

Roy nodded and picked up a rather large stack of CDs that had been placed at the headphone station that the two were standing at. Yui's eyes widened as she realized the stack of CDs was meant for her. "Roy-kun," the girl began softly, "did you buy all of those CDs for me?"

Roy blushed and laughed. "Yeah, I did," he replied. "I think there's like seven CDs there." He began counting off the CDs in his fingers. "There's three Aerosmith CDs, two from Lynyrd Skynyrd, one Blue Öyster Cult, one Credence Clearwater Revival, and one Stevie Ray Vaughn." Roy stopped and looked at the expression on Yui's face. After a few seconds, he snorted and starting laughing for a few seconds.

Yui looked utterly confused. She hadn't understood a word of anything Roy had just explained, although she could only assume that he had been going over the bands that were on those CDs.

Roy calmed down quickly. "Sorry, Yui-chan," he began with short breath, "but the look on your face was so cute and funny."

"How much did all of those cost?" Yui asked him, motioning towards the CDs.

Roy dug through his jacket pocket and pulled out the receipt. He looked for the total at the bottom of the slip. "¥9,760," he read. He turned back with a sheepish grin to his fellow guitarist who seemed to be on the verge of tears. "What's wrong, Yui-chan?"

Roy was surprised for the third time that day when he found himself on the ground just a few seconds later. Yui was on top of him, hugging him tightly. He could barely see the signs on tears rolling down her face and the broad smile that had graced her features. "Thank you, Roy-kun!" she said happily.

"Yui-chan," he replied softly as he blushed. His arms went to wrap the girl in a warm embrace, but he quickly regretted this action as the cunning visage of Tainaka Ritsu appeared at the end of the aisle. Roy's blush quickly deepened.

"What do we have here?" the drummer asked accusingly. Yui quickly jumped back when she heard the voice, putting several feet between her and Roy. Her blush darkened, coming close to surpassing Roy's own color. Ritsu laughed as she pulled something out of her pocket. The fear and dread on the two guitarists' faces deepened when they saw the small disposable camera that Ritsu was carrying. "That will make a nice cover art for our first album," Ritsu said quickly before turning to head back to the other girls.

Roy and Yui looked at each other with another blush before picking themselves up. Roy quickly grabbed a plastic bag with the store's logo on it and piled the CDs into it. The two walked out in silence and awaited their upcoming humiliation.

* * *

Roy's eyes grew wide as the group arrived in front of Mugi's villa. Everyone except Mugi was mimicking Roy's reaction; said rich girl was smiling softly at the building as she lifted herself out of the car that her family had provided for them. Roy cast a wary glance at Yui, who seemed not to notice.

No one had said anything about the embarrassing predicament in the electronics store several weeks ago. Roy and Yui had hardly seen each other over that time. They didn't even talk much during practice even though they had been very friendly with each other during practice before. Now they even refused to greet each other when one entered.

'_I wonder what's going on with those two,'_ Mio thought as she watched the two guitarists. They were currently trying very hard not to look at each other. _'Did something happen in that music store? Ritsu did come back with a very satisfied expression. Maybe she caught them holding hands or something and teased them about it...'_ Mio shook her head as she watched the two again. _'No, this was something more than just holding hands...'_

"This is a level above last time," Ritsu said as she eyes the compound before them.

Yui turned and asked Mugi, "Is this the villa that you couldn't borrow last year?"

Mugi shook her head in reply. "Sorry, that villa was unavailable this year, too." She looked up to the building in concern. "I think it might be a bit cramped, but please bear with it, okay?" The rest of the group looked simply incredulous that there could possibly be another villa larger than this one.

Yui and Ritsu quickly appeared wearing their bathing suits. "Alright, let's play!" Ritsu called. Yui agreed with her own yell.

"Wha-? Hey!" Mio replied indignantly. "The playing comes after practicing! This is the same as last year," she added.

"I want to play," Yui grumbled. Ritsu nodded.

"Fine, let's have the majority decide," Mio said. "I want to practice."

Roy nodded. "Practice is good," he said flatly.

"PLAY!" Ritsu and Yui yelled simultaneously.

Mugi raised her hand swiftly as she appeared in her bathing suit as well. "I want to play," she said. Roy and Mio looked shocked, but accepted their defeat.

* * *

Roy watched with moderate disinterest as Yui and Ritsu bounced a beach ball between themselves. He was sitting on a beach towel under an umbrella that had been planted firmly into the sand beneath them. The shade provided much-needed cool in the sweltering heat of the summer. He was still slightly uncomfortable as he had been since the incident at the music store two weeks prior.

Mio quickly noticed the boy's uneasiness. "What's going on with you and Yui?" she asked bluntly.

Roy froze in his thoughts. He didn't look at the brunette beside him, but his body relaxed after a moment. "Nothing," he said flatly. There was barely a twinge of emotion in his voice that belied the sadness in his heart.

Mio decided to force the answer from him. "I know that's not true," she answered sternly. "I've watched you two over the past few weeks. Something happened in that music store. What happened, Roy?"

Roy had finally turned to look at Mio. His expression was incredibly different from what Mio had been expecting, though; Mio had been expecting angry or even sad, but the confusion and the glimmer of hope in Roy's eyes surprised her.

"Didn't Ritsu show you the photo?" he asked cautiously. A smile adorned his features and he breathed a small sigh of relief when Mio shook her head. He quickly realized the situation he was in now and looked back to find a rather curious-looking Mio. "I guess I should explain anyway." Mio nodded.

"Well, Yui came into the electronics store and found me," Roy began; he conveniently left out the part where Yui glomped him from behind. "I had bought her a handful of CDs for her to listen to so she could hear some American rock music. It's what helped me learn to play guitar, after all," he added. Mio nodded again.

"When I explained this to her, she was shocked that I had bought all of that for her and she hugged me," Roy blushed. "We ended up on the ground somehow. Yui was crying and thanking me. I hugged her back after a moment. That's when Ritsu showed up." Mio gasped lightly at this. "Yui quickly jumped off of me, but Ritsu pulled a camera out of her pocket, saying that the picture would be a cover image for our first album."

Mio looked satisfied. She shot a small glare at the drummer girl, who was still playing with Yui on the beach. "I'm really sorry, Roy," she offered. He smiled and nodded his thanks.

"Come to think of it," he said with a thoughtful expression. "We never heard the click or saw the flash of the camera, and it would have been difficult for Ritsu to have moved the camera so quickly. I think she was just using the camera to freak us out."

Mio nodded and sighed. "Yeah, sadly I think that was the case. I think she might have taken this too far, though." Mio turned back to look at the boy next to her. "I'll have a talk with Ritsu-baka tonight. You need to talk to Yui about this." Roy blushed and looked away. "You can't run away from this, Roy. You need to set things straight."

Roy nodded sadly. "Yeah, I know," he began. "But it seems like Yui-chan is avoiding me. She hasn't even looked at me in the past two weeks. And I don't think it's something I'd want to talk about with everyone else around."

Mio nodded. "Alright, we just need to find a way for you two to be alone for a while." Mio quickly realized exactly what she had just said and blushed; Roy followed suit with a darker blush. "I didn't mean it like that," she added quickly. "I just mean that you two need some time to talk things out." Roy nodded.

Yui and Ritsu finally fell to the ground, sitting back-to-back with each other. Yui sighed contentedly as Ritsu said, "That's enough playing." Yui nodded, shaking both girls' heads up and down. "Let's eat and then sleep." Yui nodded again.

"What about practice?" Mio asked sadly.

"As I thought," Roy interjected. Yui determinedly looked in the other direction, much to the boy's spite. "Wouldn't it have been better to practice first and then play?"

"Yeah, yeah," Ritsu said boredly. "We'll go practice..."

"I'm tired and starving," Ritsu complained.

"Bear with it," Mio said coldly. Ritsu seemed a bit shocked by her friend's flat response.

* * *

Roy looked around as the group entered the practice room. "Those are brand new amps and drums," he observed.

Ritsu quickly ran up to admire the sparkly new snare drum set. "Mio, let's hurry and practice!" she said energetically.

Roy cautiously ventured a glance in Yui's directions as everyone began setting up. Yui quietly pulled the strap of her guitar around her body. Her face never turned to look at Roy, but he watched her for some time before he decided to retrieve his own guitar.

He continued to glance at Yui periodically as he removed the blue silverburst guitar from its case. "Umm," he began, "what should be practice first?" Mio and Ritsu looked between him and Yui for a moment. Yui still seemed determined to look in any direction other than Roy, and this upset the two girls greatly, especially since Ritsu knew she was the main cause of the rift.

* * *

Roy sighed sadly as everyone sat down to eat their dinner. The practice had been... suckish. No one really felt the energy to play anything worthwhile. Ritsu complained of hunger constantly; Roy and Yui failed to keep their rhythm between guitars; Mio's and Mugi's playing seemed normal, but their moods were clearly offset by the turmoil in the group.

"Test of courage," Ritsu said suddenly through a bite of her food. "Let's do it," she added with a nod. "Without a doubt, when you think of training camps, you need to have a test of courage!"

"I'm not doing it," Mio replied quickly. Roy looked at her deliberately; she caught the meaning, but made no response.

"Ah, Mio's bad with scary things," Ritsu chided.

Mio shook her head quickly, thankful for the teasing for once. "I'm perfectly fine," she countered. "I'll show you. I'll even partner up with you, Ritsu." Said drummer seemed surprised.

"In that case, I think Yui-chan and Roy-kun should be another group," Ritsu offered. Roy blushed lightly, but Yui made no response. _'Wow, I must have really done bad this time,'_ Ritsu told herself with a grimace. "Mugi-chan can go by herself since she should know this compound better than any of us." Mugi nodded happily, oblivious to the guitarists' situation.

* * *

"Are you okay, Yui-chan?"

Silence.

"You don't have to be afraid."

Silence.

Roy was beginning to wonder if the girl had gone deaf. In truth, he was beginning to become agitated with Yui's cold shoulder treatment from the past two weeks. His body stopped moving through the forest surrounding Mugi's villa. Yui stopped a few feet ahead, but did not turn around.

"Yui," he said, dropping the honorific suffix; he noticed a slight twitch in Yui's posture when she heard it, but he ignored it. "Yui, what's wrong?" he asked firmly. "You haven't spoken to me in two weeks! You won't even look at me!"

Yui turned around slowly when she heard the pain in his voice. She noticed several tears trickling down his cheeks, but paid more attention to the grimace that had twisted his normally smooth features. "Roy-kun..." she began.

"Ritsu never took a picture!" Roy interrupted loudly. "She never even took a picture of us..." His voice had died by the end of the sentence and his knees buckled as he fell to the forest floor. Yui's eyes widened and she quickly ran back and kneeled in front of the boy.

After a moment's hesitation, Yui lightly circled her arms around Roy's neck, placing her chin behind his shoulder. She quickly felt his arms encircle her back as well as she began to rub soft circles on his back. "I'm sorry, Roy-kun," she said softly. "Sorry… sorry… sorry" Yui simply repeated the word over and over as she held the boy in her arms.

"I was just so embarrassed and afraid that Ritsu would try to tease us if we talked or anything," she admitted. Roy pulled back, tears falling slower than before.

"I don't care if she teases us," Roy began. He steeled his resolve before continuing, "I l-"

"What do we have here?" asked a voice from the bushes behind Roy. Unlike before, Yui remained in place, although both of them blushed when they realized their positions.

Out of the bushes behind them emerged none other than... Sawako.

"Ero-sensei?" Roy asked lightly.

Sawako instantly became angry. "Don't call me that, you disrespectful ingrate!" she said venomously. "Especially when you're the one out here with Yui-chan!"

Both guitarists blushed again, but still remained in their positions. Yui looked defiant, and stared back at her teacher. "We weren't doing anything," she said strongly. "We were just apologizing to each other about some of the stuff that's been happening lately." Roy nodded, although he doubted his action would go very far right now.

Sawako shrugged. "It's none of my business what you do in the woods," she admitted, "but could we go up to the mansion now? I'm tired."

The two guitarists separated themselves from each other and lead their teacher up to the villa. They found Mugi waiting there. "Oh, I see," she said when they appeared in the yard behind the villa. "Sawako-sensei called a while and said she had gotten lost on the way up here," she explained at the strange looks from Yui and Roy. "I was worried she wouldn't make it here."

Mio and Ritsu appeared from another clearing a few seconds later. Ritsu didn't look happy, but Mio wasn't very cheerful either. Mio flashed a smile at Roy when she saw him and Yui standing close together. He returned her gesture with a nod and a smile of his own.

* * *

After another practice session (that sounded much better than the previous one), the group decided to head off to bed. Roy's room was to be a few halls away from the girls' room. Sadly, though, the bathroom that was just down the hall from their room happened to be the closest bathroom that Roy could find in the accursed building.

Roy noticed a light on down the hall as he exited the bathroom. Wiping the sleepiness from his eyes, Roy approached the door, realizing that it was the practice room. _'Someone must be getting in some late night practice,'_ Roy told himself. His breath hitched a bit when he looked through the window of the door and saw Yui sitting on the floor with her guitar. She was facing and the door and looked up after a few seconds. She smiled at Roy when she noticed him, beckoning him into the room.

Roy smiled sheepishly as he entered. "Sorry," he began. "I didn't mean to spy on you or anything." Yui laughed lightly.

"It's fine, Roy-kun," she replied. Her face scrunched up in thought as she looked at the paper in front her that Roy recognized as a tab sheet. "Can you help me with this bit?" she asked.

Roy nodded and walked over to where his guitar was still sitting from the earlier practice session. He picked up the Les Paul and walked back to where Yui was sitting down. He grabbed one of the tab sheets and his eyes widened a bit. Roy smirked as he set the tab sheet back down, and Yui blushed.

"'Dream On?'" Roy asked. Yui nodded. "I see you dove into those CDs I bought you, whether or not Ritsu said anything, huh?" Yui nodded again and smiled warmly. "Well, you picked a good one, Yui-chan." The girl visibly brightened when she heard the honorific suffix replaced on her name. "'Dream On' is considered one of Aerosmith's greatest songs of all time. But in all honesty, it isn't very hard to play. Here, I'll show you the part you're stuck on here."

It was awkward to play while sitting on the floor, but Roy managed to shift the Les Paul guitar into his lap. He took a second to remember the chords he needed to play and went into it. Just like when Roy played that first song in the music room so many months ago, Yui watched with rapt attention and an eagerness that made Roy smile. "Okay, wakatta," Yui said after a moment.

The girl pulled her own Les Paul into her lap and played the song just like Roy had. She didn't miss a single note as she went through the song. Roy clapped when she finished, lightly so as not to wake the others up. They were playing with the guitars unplugged right now, so it would be common sense to keep noise at a minimum.

Roy nodded before he jumped into playing the next part of the song. It was strange to not hear the amplified sound when he played, but Roy brushed it off as he kept going. He stopped after a bit and allowed Yui to play as well. She messed up a bit, but Roy corrected the mistake easily.

Both guitarists were smiling widely as they kept going. Roy decided to teach Yui another song once they finished "Dream On."

"Yui, this song is by Blue Öyster Cult," he said slowly. "You should know this one, actually. It was on one of those CDs I bought you." Yui blushed lightly at the mention of the boy's generosity, but watched and listened carefully as Roy played "(Don't Fear) The Reaper."

Roy stopped after a little bit and let Yui try to play. She hadn't got to listening to that particular song yet, but Yui gave it her all. She messed up a lot at first, but managed to play the opening to the song perfectly after just a few tries. Roy clapped lightly again before returning to his guitar to play the next part of the song.

This went on for about an hour. Roy only decided to teach the girl one more song. He chose the song for a special reason, and he explained that he wanted her to learn the song before he told her the name of the song, and she agreed.

Once they finished learning the song, Roy set his guitar down beside him. Yui did the same with her. She was slightly confused by Roy's behavior and the blush that was creeping along his neck and cheeks. "Yui-chan," he began, "the name of that song is 'Angel.' It was written by Aerosmith. It's simple, but it means so much." Yui began to blush as well. She could almost sense what Roy wanted to say now; he wanted to finish what Sawako had interrupted earlier.

"Yui, I like you."

The words flowed a lot easier than Roy had been expecting. He waited for Yui's reply, but couldn't hear anything. He once again wondered if the girl had gone deaf. He opened his eyes (which he hadn't realized had been clenched shut), and looked at the girl. Tears were pouring from her eyes and the grin that adorned her face was brighter than any Roy had ever seen.

"Roy-kun!" she called as she jumped over to the boy. Rather than just a hug, Yui kissed the boy full on the lips, which he gratefully returned. Roy realized the position they were in would be highly embarrassing if one of the others were to walk in, but Roy didn't care. The only things he cared about right were the girl that was in his arms and the guitar lying next to him that he was trying very hard not to roll on top off.

* * *

A/N: And there be the chapter folks. Yeah, lots of drama and mushies in this one. But I'm glad I finally finished up the relationship between the two. It was rough having to drag things out as long as I did, actually.

Oh, since I forgot to fully mention it last chapter, thanks to Bloodstained Comma-chan for beta-reading and correcting guitarical mistakes on my part. And also supplying a great list of CDs to use. The actual names of some of the CDs will probably be mentioned later, but whatever. So check Comma-chan's profile out! She's awesome! She's incredible! She's fummintastic! Well, okay, maybe not the last one, but she is awesome! So please check out her work!

Please, for the love of fummins, REVIEW! *gasp* I just realized my MS Word doesn't recognize the word "fummins!" *changes settings to accept the greatest word ever invented* Oh, and since you're wondering, "Chuck Norris" doesn't count as the greatest word ever invented because he wasn't invented; he just is.

Translations:

Ricchan - Yui's name for Ritsu

¥9,670 - about $100

Ero-sensei - pervert-teacher

A/N August 30, 2009: Fixed up the Japanese words. Decided to keep "Ero-sensei" because it's funny. Also edited a little bit.

A/N May 24, 2010: Fixed the formatting on my computer copy and reposted.


	5. I Don't Want to Miss a Thing

Yay. Reviews. Thank you very much to the people that reviewed. I do have a personal response to one "B.B. Baka" who submitted an anonymous review which prevented me from replying directly. To B., I would like to say this:

I'm glad you decided to offer criticism to my story. Thank you. However, I would like to point out that declaring my fic as being "AU" would be redundant; the fact that I am writing fanfiction automatically makes this an "AU." Thank you for your time.

Okay, now that my mini-rant is over, on to the fic!

Actually, I do have one more thing to say before the disclaimer. I just watched episode 12 of the K-On! Anime and I noticed at least 1 boy in the auditorium before the band's performance. Not sure if that means that the school was allowing boys in for the festival, but there was definitely a boy there...sleeping, but he was there.

Disclaimer: Same as usual. I don't own the rights to anything, especially songs or guitar brands. My OCs have accepted me as the owner again. I would hope so after what Roy got at the end of the last chapter. You go boy!

* * *

It seemed like a normal morning to Akiyama Mio. She had woken herself up at her usual time; 8:30 a.m. She looked around, half-expecting to see the décor of her bedroom. She remembered with only mild surprise that the club had gone on its (now) annual training camp trip. As she looked around the room again, Mio quickly realized that this was no ordinary morning. There was one bed empty.

Hirasawa Yui had woken up before her.

Mio had been fully expecting to find at least two other beds still occupied when she awakened. To Mio's distaste, Ritsu was turned upside-down with her head where her feet should be and sprawled out over her bed; her covers had been tossed aside during the night apparently. Mio also noted that Mugi was sleeping quietly in her own bed. Her covers looked like they had barely been moved, as if Mugi had somehow molded directly through the covers onto her bed.

Mio fought to repress this image and shuddered. She had more important things to think about. _'Where is Yui?'_ she asked herself.

Mio decided to search for the girl on her own. No sense in waking up Ritsu or Mugi; Yui couldn't have gone far. In fact, Mio's answer to the girl's whereabouts was discovered rather quickly when she looked into the practice room.

That didn't make the fact that she was sleeping under the covers with Roy any less surprising.

Mio's mouth fell open slightly and a deep blush streaked across her cheeks. _'Yui slept... with Roy...?'_ Mio could barely complete the thought. Mio sighed and quickly reigned in her overactive imagination. _'I guess they made out- made up last night.'_ Mio quickly berated herself for the slip. It wasn't normal to slip like that in your own thoughts.

Mio sighed quietly again. _'I don't think I should wake them up,'_ she concluded. _'They look too peaceful.'_

It was true. Mio had rarely seen a smile that... "Content" was the only word Mio could find to describe the look on Yui's face at the moment.

"What are you looking at, Mio?"

The brunette girl jumped and turned around. Her heartbeat settled down quickly when she realized it was only Mugi standing behind her. Mio sighed heavily and turned back to the couple still sleeping soundly under their blanket on the floor. "Yui slept with Roy in the practice room last night," Mio said quietly.

Mugi didn't seem overly shocked at the news, but the smile she had been wearing stretched wider than before. "I'm glad for the two of them," Mugi said simply.

Mio nodded. _'Good luck, Yui.'_

Both girls left to begin making breakfast for when the others finally woke up.

* * *

Roy was never very picky about where he slept. There had been many occasions where he found himself sleeping on the floor or on the couch because he had fallen asleep doing something... like playing one of his guitars. Of course, this also meant that Roy was never picky about the pillow he used, if there happened to be one at all. So when Roy felt the hard floor supporting his head when he woke up, it wasn't an unfamiliar sensation.

The brown hair that cascaded around his head proved to boggle Roy's mind, though.

'_Brown hair?'_ Roy pondered. He numbly realized that the back of someone's head, which provided said brown hair, was taking up most of his immediate vision. He gently lifted his head in an attempt to discover the identity of the person he had apparently been sleeping next to. His mind also registered several other important facts that had eluded him until now.

His body was fully clothed. He breathed a sigh of relief at this.

The person in front of him was also fully clothed. Another sigh of relief, heavier this time.

His right arm was draped over the stomach of the person - now revealed to be a girl - lying in front of him.

His left arm was wrapped underneath the body of the girl.

Both of his hands had been clasped by the girl's hands.

Dreading to continue moving upward, Roy was finally able to look at the face of the girl he had apparently been cuddling with. Roy blinked and gulped.

Hirasawa Yui.

'_YUI!'_ Roy practically screamed to himself. His heartbeat accelerated quickly past safe levels as his mind raced. He could not move without waking the girl, but he did not particularly want to be in this position when she woke up.

His memories from the previous night flooded into his mind and his heart rate began to subside to normal speeds. Roy flushed full crimson as he remembered his confession and Yui's reaction. He then remembered falling asleep with Yui in his arms. His mind quickly took reign over his emotions and... He smiled.

"Yui-chan?" he whispered to the girl. Her eyebrow twitched; a barely noticeable reaction. "Yui-chan?" he asked again. The girl's face twisted into a grimace this time, but she remained otherwise still. Roy sighed.

"Yui!" he finally yelled.

Yui's eyes popped open at this. Her first reaction to the feeling of arms being wrapped around her torso was panic, but she noticed Roy's face above her and she calmed down.

"Roy-kun..." she muttered softly with a bright smile to match Roy's.

"Good morning, 'Princess,'" Roy said softly. Yui blushed but her smile widened.

"Morning, 'Prince,'" Yui replied. Roy smiled again and kissed her cheek.

"We should probably get up," Roy said as he removed his hands from Yui's. He noted the girl's smile falter for a second when he said this.

"Why can't we stay like this a little longer?" she asked desperately. Roy blushed again at the look on the girl's face.

He nodded with another warm smile and settled himself back down next to his girlfriend.

Roy's entire world stopped at that word. _'Girlfriend...'_ he thought. His body remained calm, but Yui looked concerned at the glazed look in his eyes. _'I've never actually had a girlfriend before. I was a bit surprised to even think of the word so easily.'_ Roy allowed himself a light chuckle before noticing the concerned look on the girl's face. "Sorry, I was just thinking," Roy explained. "I guess you're technically my girlfriend now."

Yui smiled and nodded as Roy finally shifted himself into a comfortable position. Yui had turned around and was now facing him. Both teens blushed as Roy leaned in for a warm kiss.

It was another hour before they left the room for breakfast.

* * *

Roy smiled brightly as they walked into the practice room several hours later. Breakfast had been a rather hilarious adventure. The advances in his relationship with Yui hadn't surprised Mio or Mugi. Roy had a sinking suspicion that they had seen the two in the practice room together at some point last night or this morning. His suspicions were forgotten when Ritsu saw Roy and Yui holding hands. Her reaction was even funnier after she saw Yui give him a light peck on his cheek. Roy laughed out loud as Ritsu began looking back-and-forth between everyone in the room before she walked out of the kitchen area muttering something about practice.

Roy glanced at Yui, who was lifting her guitar strap over her head. She looked up and smiled at him. Roy returned the smile as he thought of something. His eyes twinkled as he walked over to one of the other guitar cases he had brought on the trip. He unlatched the locks on the case and pulled out a cherry red, double-neck Gibson SG.

All of the girls watched as he walked back over to his typical spot and began tuning the top neck of the guitar. "Hey," Yui began, "Roy-kun, why does your guitar look doubled?"

Roy sweat-dropped. _'Cute, she is,'_ Roy told himself, _'but no one ever said Yui was very bright.'_ "It's made that way, Yui-chan," he answered. "It's a double-neck guitar, and as long as both necks are tuned the same it doesn't matter which you play on." Yui nodded as Roy continued, "In fact, you could even tune both necks differently and switch back and forth for different sounds when you play."

Yui's eyes brightened. "Cool!" she said excitedly.

Roy smiled at the girl's energy. "Well, let's get to it!" he said.

* * *

"Hey, pass it here!" Roy called as Yui hit the ball towards him. He laughed as he ran ahead; the ball had flown past him. He dove at the last second and managed to hit the beach ball just before it hit the sand. With a soft "thump," Roy landed face-first in the sand. Yui and Mugi giggled as Roy picked himself up. He barely noticed Ritsu chasing after the ball. The right side of his body was covered in sand from his fall. He laughed with the girls as he began brushing the sand off of his body.

After a few minutes, Roy resigned himself to one of the "mini-showers" closer to the villa. He washed the sand off of his body and shivered as a cool breeze touched his wet skin. Roy was met with another inspiration after he had dried off and went to go grab another one of his guitars.

Roy returned a few minutes later holding an acoustic guitar. He walked over to where Mio had been resting underneath her umbrella. She eyed the guitar as he approached, but didn't say anything.

"Hey," Roy called to the other girls, "Could you all come over here for a moment?" They all noticed the guitar he was holding and walked over. Roy smiled as he pulled up a chair and set to tuning the guitar. "You girls wanna hear a song?" he asked casually.

"Sure," Mio offered first. The other girls just nodded as Roy looked up.

He beamed at them. "Good, 'cause I have a song for Yui-chan," he continued. The other girls turned to look at Yui as she blushed, but no one said anything. They all watched Roy as he began the song.

"_I could stay awake just to hear you breathin',_

_Watch you smile while you are sleepin',_

_While you're far away and dreamin'._

_I could spend my life in this sweet surrender._

_I could stay lost in this moment forever._

_Well, every moment spent with you_

_Is a moment I treasure._

_I don't wanna close my eyes._

_I don't wanna fall asleep_

'_Cause I'd miss you, baby,_

_And I don't wanna miss a thing_

'_Cause even when I dream of you,_

_The sweetest dream would never do;_

_I'd still miss you, baby_

_And I don't wanna miss a thing._

_Lyin' close to you,_

_Feelin' your heart beetin'._

_And I'm wonderin' what your dreamin',_

_Wonderin' if it's me you're seein'._

_Then I kiss your eyes_

_And thank God we're together._

_And I just wanna stay with you_

_In this moment forever,_

_Forever and ever!_

_I don't wanna close my eyes._

_I don't wanna fall asleep_

'_Cause I'd miss you, baby,_

_And I don't wanna miss a thing_

'_Cause even when I dream of you,_

_The sweetest dream would never do;_

_I'd still miss you, baby_

_And I don't wanna miss a thing._

_I don't wanna miss one smile,_

_I don't wanna miss one kiss._

_Well, I just wanna be with you,_

_Right here with you, just like this._

_And I just wanna hold you close,_

_Feel your heart so close to mine,_

_And just stay here in this moment_

_For all the rest of time._

_I don't wanna close my eyes._

_I don't wanna fall asleep_

'_Cause I'd miss you, baby,_

_And I don't wanna miss a thing_

'_Cause even when I dream of you,_

_The sweetest dream would never do;_

_I'd still miss you, baby_

_And I don't wanna miss a thing._

_I don't wanna close my eyes!_

_I don't wanna fall asleep,_

'_Cause I'd miss you, baby._

_And I don't wanna miss a thing."_

Yui's face directly resembled a very large tomato by the end of the song. Roy's face wasn't very far off, but he had been focusing on playing the guitar. His mind and emotions were finally catching up to him, and it suddenly felt a lot warmer under the shade of the umbrella than it had several minutes ago.

Oblivious to the embarrassment of the two guitarists, Mugi began clapping lightly. The bright smile on her face bewildered Mio, but the tears in Ritsu's eyes puzzled her more. Ritsu had begun crying towards the end of the song. _'I never knew she could be that emotional,'_ Mio admitted.

Everyone was silent for a while, but Yui finally broke the silence. "Thank you, Roy-kun," she said. Her eyes were beginning to tear up as well, but her smile was the epitome of happiness as Roy watched the girl. "That was really beautiful." She slowly pulled herself up from the beach towel she had been sitting on and reached forward to plant a soft kiss on Roy's lips. He warmly returned the kiss as the other girls looked on.

The kiss was short, but both guitarists were blushing again as they pulled back.

"Thank you, Yui-chan," he finally answered.

* * *

That night, Ritsu decided to throw a party to celebrate the fact that Roy and Yui had "Finally wised up and started dating," as the drummer had written on the banner that hung in one of the main sitting rooms of Mugi's villa. It was just the five of them, but the party had grown fairly loud. Everyone thanked Mugi for having a villa so far away from neighbors.

Roy decided to show off a little more of his guitar talent that night. He grabbed his blue-silverburst Les Paul and plugged it in the amp before anyone had noticed him. No one knew he had moved one of the amps into the main room, but they quickly realized it once Roy began playing his heart out.

Roy didn't really know what he was playing, but he was improvising every trick he knew. Alternate picking, tapping, pinch harmonics; Roy was fairly certain that he could give Van Halen a run for their money at the moment.

After about five minutes of the continuous guitar-shredding, Roy was red in the face again. He finally stopped after about seven minutes, letting the final sustained note carry on for a few seconds. All four girls were awestruck. Roy chuckled tiredly at their reactions.

Mio had inadvertently dug her hand into the salsa while looking for the bag of chips. Her hand hadn't moved.

Ritsu had fallen over when Roy had begun his shredding session. The girl remained sideways on the floor. Her left foot was hanging in the air as though she had forgotten how to let it fall back down.

Mugi hadn't made any overtly embarrassing reactions, but her eyes had bulged slightly and her mouth was hanging open.

Yui's reaction was the funniest by far. Although she had been sitting down, Yui had fallen backwards immediately as Roy began playing. Her legs were still hanging in the air, but her head had lifted up and she was attempting to watch Roy in that position.

Of course, Roy also had to suppress a nosebleed when he saw her position.

After a few deep breaths, Roy had regained his composure and returned to his seat around the table that the girls were sitting at. "Incredible, Roy-kun!" Yui said excitedly as he sat down. He chuckled at the rhyme, but didn't say anything. "That was amazing!"

Roy blushed at the praise as the other girls began to agree with Yui's statement. "Eh, it wasn't any particular song, but it was probably the most fun I've had playing guitar in a long time," he admitted after a moment. The girls looked at him strangely for a moment, and he continued, "I don't get to go all out with some of the stuff we play, and even learning new songs can be boring sometimes." Yui nodded lightly. "Sometimes I like to just jam out until I can't feel my fingers anymore."

Roy raised his left hand shakily for emphasis. "I won't have any feeling in that hand for about five minutes," he said with a laugh. He also noticed at least two of his fingers had begun to bleed. Mio bolted behind the couch and curled into the fetal position.

All of the band members looked up when the phone rang. Mugi quickly left to go answer, but returned after a few seconds. "It's for you, Roy-kun," she said brightly. Roy looked confused, but got up and went to the phone anyway.

"Moshi-moshi," he said lightly once he had the receiver in his hand. His eyes widened, and he began talking excitedly in English. "Mom! Things are going great here!" He nodded his head even though he knew his mother couldn't see him. "Yeah, everyone's getting along great, actually. In fact," he added, "Yui and I are dating now!"

Roy quickly pulled the receiver away from his face. There was a pause on the other end of the line before Roy heard his mother's overly excited shriek. _'I know mom too well to have been expecting that,'_ he mused, _'especially since I've never had a girlfriend before.'_ "Yeah, I know mom," he finally continued once his mother had calmed down. "Yeah, I'm happy, too. I don't think I've ever been happier in my life."

They kept talking for a little longer. It was a little while before Roy's eyes bulged at the news his mother gave him. "Dad did what?" he asked incredulously. "Sure, I'll let everyone know once I head back in there. Thanks for calling, Mom. Love you." He hung up the receiver and headed back into the front room with a large smile. This was certainly going to surprise everyone.

"Guys, I have some exciting news," Roy said as soon as he'd returned to the party room. "My dad just got a new shipment of instruments at his music shop and he bought some of the stuff for his personal use," he paused to let them absorb this news. "But he's also buying us all new instruments!" All of the girls erupted gleefully. He laughed along with the girls. "We can all go by to pick everything up once we get back from the training trip."

He looked around and noticed bright smiles all around. As he looked at Yui, Roy knew that things were only going to get happier from here on.

* * *

A/N: Well, I really have no excuse for how long it took to write this. I can only say that I got caught up in reading another fanfiction (Harry Potter, for those wondering) and couldn't get my mind to think of anything else for several days. It also didn't help that I got hit by a minor case of writer's block this week. It's all good, though I wish this chapter had been a bit longer. The band's new instruments will be introduced next chapter.

I'd like to add a disclaimer that I don't own the rights to the lyrics of "I Don't Want to Miss A Thing" by Aerosmith.

Thank you again to Bloodstained Comma-chan for beta-reading this and correcting any guitarical mistakes. This fic would probably be a lot worse without her.

Translations!

Moshi-moshi - Hello (when answering the telephone)

A/N August 30, 2009: Fixed more Japanese words and decided to keep the honorifics instead of stopping them like I had done before. Edited a few words.

A/N June 9, 2010: Fixed formatting; fixed some words that were kinda weird.


	6. Beyond Beautiful

Well, here we go again. Nah, I'm kidding. This is fun. Thanks to those who reviewed or subscribed/faved chapter 5. As I said before, I wish it had been longer, but it was what it was.

I was happy to find that they added a chapter 26 to the manga, although it's the same general concept that episode 13 of the anime was. The manga was funnier and followed a different bit.

I'd like to give a huge thank you to "UC." who gave an anonymous review and pointed out that I had been spelling Yui's surname incorrectly. Thank you very much!

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to K-On! or any of its registered trademarks. I also do not own the right to Gibson® or Dean® Guitars or any of the other instrument brands mentioned in this chapter. I also do not own the rights to the lyrics or names of any songs used in this fanfiction. I simply own the OCs of the Page family...and even then they are beginning to question said ownership.

* * *

Roy smiled contentedly as he looked out the window of the vehicle he was currently riding in. The band - which Roy quickly noted did not have an official name - was returning from their training camp. Sawako had volunteered to drive the vehicle back, but resigned to sit in the passenger's seat when one of Mugi's butlers refused to allow the crazed woman access to the steering wheel. Roy strongly agreed with the butler.

Crazy pervert teachers aside, Roy was as happy as he could ever remember being. Not only had he found some great friends, albeit all girls, but he had finally confessed his feelings to Yui. He was still surprised by the girl's acceptance and return of his affections. He could remember the first time he had seen the girl. It didn't seem that long ago; it had only been a few months.

Roy sighed as remembered that day. He'd been living in Japan for some time at that point, but still hadn't met any of the other children from the area. Looking back, he realized he hadn't made much of an effort to meet anyone until he'd joined the Keion club. _'Actually,'_ he reminded himself, _'I met Ui-chan before I met anyone from the club. I didn't know who she was at the time, but I remember she and her friend made sure I had found the right place.'_

Roy smiled. Ui was a good girl; she was almost a complete opposite of her sister in maturity, though. Whereas Yui was excitable and giddy most of the time, Ui was a very calm girl. She looked out for Yui at home. Roy remembered Ui cooking dinner when he had gone to their house for the study session with Yui. It was with a small grimace that Roy remembered Ui mentioning that their parents traveled a lot. _'I'll have to meet them someday,'_ Roy told himself. He was strangely dreading and anticipating that day at the same time.

He barely noticed Yui turn to look at him. She was sitting next to him; the other girls had conveniently sat in seats that left the two next to each other. Neither guitarist had minded and happily accepted the situation. He smiled at the girl and she smiled back. Her look still had a concerned look to it so Roy leaned over and gave her a light peck on her cheek. She smiled wider and rested her head on his shoulder.

Roy draped his arm behind the girl's shoulders and whispered softly so that only she could hear, "I don't wanna miss one smile." Roy could feel Yui's heartbeat quicken a little bit as Roy recounted the lyrics from the song. "I don't wanna miss one kiss. I just wanna be with you, right here with you, just like this." Roy paused as the girl began to whisper along the song as well. "I just wanna hold you close, to feel your heart so close to mine. And just stay here in this moment for all the rest of time."

Roy looked down at his girlfriend as she looked up at him. Both guitarists were blushing lightly, but their warm smiles were not missed as Ritsu glanced back at them. She looked away as the two kissed warmly. _'They deserve each other,'_ Ritsu thought.

"Hideki-san," Mugi asked the driver as they approached the main city, "could you make a detour to the music store that Roy-kun's father owns?" The butler that was driving nodded and turned on the next road. Roy idly wondered how the man knew how to get there.

Mugi smiled and turned back to face the group. "We're going to pick up out new instruments now," she explained. "Hideki-san can deliver the equipment to our homes this afternoon," she continued, motioning towards the butler that was driving.

"Of course, Tsumugi-sama," the driver said mechanically.

Everyone looked at Mugi enviously, but she brushed it off lightly.

* * *

"I'm home!" Roy called as he entered the music store that doubled as his family's home. The living area was on the upper floor while the music store was on the ground floor. Roy turned back to the four girls standing behind him. "And the Light Music club is here, too!" he added as he heard footsteps moving through the back area of the shop.

A middle-aged man poked his head out from the back area with a warm smile. "Good to see you home, boy!" he called. He walked out to greet everyone with a bright grin. "I'm Ryan Page, Roy's dad," he explained, "and this is my music shop." He motion to the surrounding instruments. "I suppose you all are here to pick up the stuff I bought for you." All four girls nodded and smiled; Roy grinned at his father. "Well, come on back," Ryan motioned for everyone to follow him with a wave, "I got everything back here." He walked back towards the door he had come from.

"Your dad seems real nice," Yui told Roy as they followed the older man back.

Roy nodded. "He is," he agreed. "He's also an awesome bassist." Roy noticed Mio perk up a bit at this. "Yeah, and he's left-handed, too," he continued as he turned to look at the female bassist, "just like Mio-chan." Mio looked surprised but happy at this revelation. Everyone remained in a comfortable silence as they entered the back room of the shop.

Ryan waved the group over to where he was standing again. "Here you go," he said simply. Everyone's mouth fell open a few inches as they stared at the brand new instruments Ryan had bought for them.

There was a Korg RADIAS Synthesizer Vocoder for Mugi. Ritsu noticed a vintage wine Pearl Vision Maple VMX drum set at the back of the arrangement. Mio quickly spotted a left-handed Fender Jazz bass leaning against the keyboard. Roy smiled at the ebony Gibson Marauder leaning next to the bass guitar. Yui's breath hitched when she saw her guitar. The Dean Soltero Standard clearly stood out from the rest; the light almost seemed to focus on the sole instrument for a few moments.

"Of course, these aren't going to be free," Ryan said suddenly. All five of the kids looked downtrodden but perked up when Ryan laughed. "I just want you guys to advertise my store around the school and maybe during some of your live performances." Roy breathed a sigh of relief and shot a minor glare at his father, earning a soft chuckle in return.

Ryan smiled at the group again. "Why don't you all start getting your stuff together?" he suggested. "Roy, c'mere for a sec," he added. Roy nodded and he walked over to the other side of the room with his father.

"What's up?" he asked in English.

Without missing a beat, the older man replied, "Which one is Yui-chan?"

Roy noted the use of the honorific even though they were speaking English. He blushed, but kept his composure. "The brown-haired one with the guitar," he replied. He glanced at the girl, but she was still admiring the new Dean Soltero.

Ryan looked unimpressed. "She's cute," he admitted, "but I woulda gone for the dark-haired girl with the bass."

"_Ahem!_"

A look of utter horror crossed Ryan's features for a moment. He turned around slowly and came face to face with his wife. Roy was fighting not to laugh at his dad right now.

"Of course you would go for the bassist," Melissa Page said lightly after a few seconds of awkward silence. She ignored her husband's sputtering attempt at speech and turned to Roy. "Welcome home," she said with a laugh.

"Thanks, Mom," Roy replied. "It's good to be home." He motioned back towards the girls that were still fawning over the new instruments. "They're not quite as fun to be around as you and Dad after he says something stupid." Roy and Melissa laughed and Ryan frowned.

Roy gave both of his parents quick hugs before returning to the group of girls still ogling the instruments. "Alright, girls," he said, quickly returning to Japanese, "time to start packing up." All four girls looked at him and nodded lightly. "I'll help you all move the stuff out to Mugi-chan's car."

"Dad, can you help, too?" Roy called back. The man looked like he would refuse for a moment, but nodded quickly when he noticed all four girls staring at him. With some effort, they moved the keyboard and the drum set out to the car. Mio and Yui carried their respective instruments themselves. As the girls rode off in Mugi's car, Roy could tell that the next band practice session would prove very interesting.

* * *

_The next Saturday afternoon..._

"Thanks for letting us over to practice, Page-san," Mio said as the band members filed into the basement area underneath the music shop. "This is really nice of you." The other three girls nodded their agreement.

Ryan waved it off lightly. "No worries," he said happily. "We never use this recording studio, anyway. It came with the property," he added. Ryan straightened up a bit as he said, "And call me Ryan. No need for such unfamiliarity." Mio smiled. "You're all my son's friends, after all!"

They all smiled at that. "Roy-kun will be down in a moment," Melissa said as she descended the stairs. "He's trying to decide which of his guitars to use." She chuckled lightly, followed by her husband and the rest of the girls.

Roy followed down the stairs quickly, holding his new Gibson Marauder in his hands carefully. "Sorry everyone!" he called as he reached the bottom landing. He smiled at the girls and they entered the booth for their first "official practice," as Ritsu had dubbed it.

Everything went smoothly. Ryan and Melissa sat outside the booth and listened. "They sound good," Ryan admitted after a few minutes. He frowned momentarily. "I don't particularly care for their lyrics, but they sound good." Melissa nodded.

"Mio-chan and Yui-chan have exceptionally good singing voices," she added. "Yui-chan just has a problem remembering to sing and play her guitar at the same time."

Ryan laughed a bit. "I remember when Roy had that problem," he said. Melissa laughed as well. "He got over it pretty quick, though." His wife nodded as the band finished up the last of their practice for the day.

"Thank you again for buying us all new instruments!" everyone said as they filed out of the booth. Yui looked extremely grateful. "Yes, thank you very much!" she said. "My other guitar was beginning to sound weird lately. I don't know why."

Roy looked curious. "When was the last time you changed the strings?" he asked. His face fell when Yui abruptly stopped.

"You're supposed to change them?"

Everyone else in the room immediately face-palmed. Roy sighed lightly.

"Yes," he replied, "you need to replace the strings regularly or they get rusted. You should probably replace the strings every few months." Yui nodded. "I replace my strings every two months, but I'm just paranoid that way." Roy's father laughed.

Roy looked around for a moment. "Do you have the guitar here?" he asked after a few seconds. Yui shook her head.

"No, I didn't bring it," she replied. "I didn't see the point in bringing both guitars." Roy nodded.

"That's fine." Roy turned to his father. "Do you mind if Yui-chan brings her guitar by later for maintenance?" Ryan shook his head happily.

"Sure!" he replied. "That'll be fine. I'll even waive the cost." Yui looked as if she could jump for joy. She settled for just kissing Roy lightly.

"Thank so much!" she said quickly with a rigid bow that made Roy and Ryan laugh.

* * *

_The next day..._

Sundays were typically boring around the Page household. The "Turn the Page" music store wasn't normally open. Back in the United States, the Pages hadn't been overly religious, but they attended church fairly regularly. Roy's mother typically sang in the choir, often performing the special music for the service. Since their move to Japan, the Pages had yet to find or attend a church. So the family spent their Sundays lounging about the house or doing chores or taking inventory in the shop.

This particular Sunday was different, however, as the Page family knew a certain brown-haired guitarist would be coming in today for maintenance. Roy had asked Yui to bring her guitar by that day since the shop wouldn't officially be open. _'Yui-chan should be coming by any minute now,'_ Roy told himself as he stared out the window of his room to the street in front of the shop below.

Roy smiled brightly when he recognized the girl walking towards the shop. He jumped up and headed down the stairs to meet the girl at the door. Roy gave Yui a confused look when he noticed her carrying two guitar cases. She noticed this and explained, "I figured I should bring both guitars in case something needs to be fixed on the new one." Roy nodded and led her to the back of the shop again while calling out for his father.

"Be there in a second!" they both heard Ryan call from somewhere above them. Yui giggled a bit and Roy smirked.

Roy looked back at his girlfriend. "You can go ahead and get your guitar out," he informed her. She complied, removing the Cherry Sunburst Gibson Les Paul from its case. Roy took the guitar and inspected it briefly. "Well..." he began after a moment, "this guitar is in worse shape than I thought." Yui sweat-dropped.

"What's wrong with it?" the girl asked desperately.

Roy grimaced. "The neck is slightly warped," he explained, "and the octave tuning is totally messed up." He brought the guitar closer to his face for a moment. "Not to mention the body is quite dirty," he added, noting smudges and bits of dirt all over the guitar.

'_I honestly don't think she's ever cleaned this thing before,'_ Roy told himself. _'She's really lucky the strings haven't snapped and hit her in the face yet.'_ Roy grimaced again. He would have to teach her the proper way to take care of a guitar once this was done.

Ryan entered the room at that point, and noticed the guitar Roy was holding. He sweat-dropped. "Is that a vintage guitar?" he asked flatly.

Roy sweat-dropped as well. "No," he said plainly, "I think it's just dirty." Ryan face-palmed and took the guitar from his son.

"Alright, I'll get to it, then," he said heavily. He carried the guitar to his maintenance area and began working. Yui watched closely, and gasped loudly when she saw Ryan cutting the strings.

"My guitar..." Yui moaned sadly. Roy laid a comforting hand around her shoulder. She immediately buried her head into the crook of his neck, sniffling a bit. Roy, startled slightly, wrapped his arm around the girl and patted her back softly.

"Come on, we can go wait in the front of the store," Roy suggested, trying to get away from his dad before he began teasing him. Yui nodded into his shoulder and he directed the girl back into the main area of the shop.

Roy and Yui walked around the front area for a few minutes before the girl finally calmed down a bit. She still sniffled occasionally, but Roy was glad she wasn't crying. He took the opportunity to ask something he had been thinking about while waiting for the girl to arrive.

"Yui-chan?" he said to get her attention. The girl looked at him with a soft smile in response. "Would you-" he stuttered. Roy gulped as a blush creeped up his neck. "?" he asked rapidly.

Yui looked surprised for a moment. "Huh?"

Roy sighed. "Would you like to go with me to the summer festival next week?" he asked again, much slower this time.

Yui visibly brightened and blushed, but he answer didn't show it. "Yes!" she practically yelled. "Of course, I'd love to go, Roy!" She jumped and hugged the boy, nearing pushing him over if not for the counter that had been behind him.

His back ached a bit, but Roy was only paying attention to the girl in his arms. His semi-romantic moment was ruined when Ryan called back from the other room. Roy nodded at Yui and they walked back in, hand in hand.

Ryan raised an eyebrow, but ignored it for now. "You're all good," he said as he handed the guitar back to Yui. Yui accepted the guitar graciously, but seemed to be on the verge of tears for a moment. The guitar seemed to sparkle in her hands for a moment before Yui somehow managed to hug the Les Paul.

"Gitah!" she cried with relief.

Roy looked on in disbelief. "Gitah?" he whispered to his dad, who shook his head. "Is that a name?" Ryan chuckled a bit.

"Son," he began, "you picked a good one." He patted his son's back before heading back upstairs.

Roy sighed, ignoring the comment. "Yui-chan," he said after a moment. The girl turned to look at him. "Would you like me to show you how to take care of your guitar better so you don't have to come in from maintenance as often?" The girl nodded enthusiastically. "Alright, I'll show you."

Roy walked over to the area where his dad had been working on the guitar. Yui followed him over as he began explaining the proper way to maintain a guitar. Yui was shocked by everything that needed to be done, but promised to give her best in keeping her "Gitah" clean and well-maintained.

* * *

_The next Saturday, the day of the Summer Festival..._

"Roy-kun, look, they have cotton candy!"

Roy beamed at the girl next to him. "Would you like some?" he asked. She nodded and they walked over to the vender. He bought some for her, but declined any for himself. "You wanna head over to some of the main attractions?" he asked after a moment. Yui nodded again as she ate.

The two guitarists walked towards the main gathering slowly. They each wore a festive yukata; Yui's was a pink floral pattern with a red sash, and Roy's was light blue with a yellow sash. Yui's hair had been pulled into a small bun at the top of head, and Roy had almost confused her for Ui when they had met up earlier.

They arrived at the main attraction of the festival after a few minutes. Yui's cotton candy had been finished rather quickly, something Roy was thankful for; the cluster of people ahead would have made carrying the sugary treat very difficult. Yui and Roy attempted to push through the crowd, but their small stature prevented them from moving past the adults. Roy frowned, but Yui just pulled him to the side where there was a small opening.

The two squeezed their way to the unoccupied space and gasped when they looked out into the area where the main attraction was being displayed. Dozens of people were moving around the enclosed area swiftly and nimbly, almost like they were gliding on the air itself. Several of the people were hidden under the exterior of a large dragon puppet which they were moving around the enclosure between all of the dancers. Yui gripped Roy's hand as they watched all of the performers move in perfect harmony.

The female guitarist was watching with rapt attention, something that Roy seemed slightly surprised with. _'I wonder if she's thinking about the band...'_ Roy pondered. He watched the performance draw to a close. _'I bet the Light Music club would be so much better if we had better coordination.' _Roy sighed lightly enough that Yui failed to notice. _'Ritsu-chan is still a little too fast with the drums, and Mio-chan is still way too nervous about being the lead vocalist.'_

Yui voice suddenly pulled Roy from his musings. "Cool!" she said happily. "That was so cool! Wasn't that great, Roy-kun?" The boy nodded with a smile.

"How about we go see if we can watch one of the other shows?" he asked.

"Yeah!" Yui responded.

Roy led them away from the main enclosure. People were still clapping and cheering after the performance as they walked. Roy looked around as they walked, hand in hand, through the city festival. He was looking for something interesting they could find to occupy some time. It was still early in the evening; the sun hadn't begun to set just yet. Something caught Roy's eye and he looked closer.

"Yui-chan, let's head over there," he said quickly. The girl nodded and Roy led them to where he had been looking. The woman behind the table looked up and smiled as they walked up.

"Goode evening," she said as Roy and Yui approached. They returned the greeting and smiled. "Would you like to have a picture taken together?" she asked, gesturing to the large photo booth next to the table she had been sitting at. "It's only ¥300 for one photo session, ¥450 for two people."

Roy smiled and paid the woman ¥450. He and Yui walked into the photo booth for a few minutes. They emerged and Roy grabbed the photo reel that had been dispensed. Yui took the pictures from him and smiled at the first picture.

"Aww, Roy-kun, you look so cute," she said. Roy blushed and laughed. "And so do I!" Roy sweat-dropped.

Yui blushed when she saw the next picture. Roy had snuck in a quick peck on her cheek just as the camera flashed. Yui's face was flushed in the next picture, and Roy's arm was wrapped around her shoulders. He was flashing a one-eyed grin and a peace sign.

The last picture showed the two playing air guitar. Roy silently decided that the last picture was his favorite. Yui's face looked so cute scrunched up like that. He laughed. "Thank you very much!" he said to the woman behind the table. She bowed and replied in kind.

Yui quickly grabbed his elbow and pulled him away, noticing something on the other side of the street that she wanted to try. Roy sighed and followed. He couldn't complain as he looked up and noticed the sky beginning to turn orange; the sun was beginning to set.

* * *

_Later that night, still at the festival..._

"Yui-chan, let's head over to the fireworks display!" Roy suggested. She nodded happily. He beamed at her for a moment before they walked quickly to where the final fireworks display could be seen.

Roy and Yui headed towards the bank of a nearby waterway. Several other groups were gathering there, and Roy figured it would be a perfect place to view the evening's final performance. They arrived just as the fireworks began. Yui made a surprised noise as the first few fireworks exploded. "Pretty!" she said immediately. Roy nodded.

The two sat down after a moment, knowing that the fireworks celebrations tended to last several minutes. They watched excitedly as the display became much more elegant in the display of the explosions. Roy noted the many different colors that were used and how they all matched perfectly. Yui was grinning happily throughout the entire display. Roy's vision shifted to his side as he began to stare at Yui. Her features showed excitement, and Roy was enraptured by her face; he couldn't look away.

Yui gently gripped Roy's hand as the fireworks gave a huge explosion of sound and color for the finale. "That was beautiful," Yui said gently.

Roy continued to stare blankly at his girlfriend for a moment. "Yeah," he said shortly, "you are."

There was a silent pause.

Yui never turned to look at Roy, but he quickly realized what he had just said. "Ack!" he cried as he pulled himself away from the girl by a few inches. "Sorry! I don't know what I was saying!" He comically bowed several times to exaggerate his apology. After a few more seconds of silence, Roy looked up at Yui only to find himself on the ground a few seconds later with her on top of him again.

"Roy-kun!" she cried happily before kissing the boy softly. She pulled back after just a few seconds. Both teens were blushing as Yui said, "Thank you, Roy-kun." She grinned down at him happily and he grinned back.

"You really are beyond beautiful," he replied simply.

* * *

A/N: Okay, now that Comma-chan is puking over the mushiness... That's done and over with. Yeah, I added the festival outside of the canon storyline. I needed filler to end the chapter. Added quite a bit of Yui-Roy fluff there at the end, but it's all good (aside from Comma-chan puking.)

Yeah, Yui's a bit OOC, but we actually don't know how she would act with a boyfriend so you can't really say she's out of character... more like an extension of character.

More reviews please. Reviews make me happy. And they make Comma-chan question the sanity of a lot of people.

Yay, Translations:

Hideki-san - (OC I made randomly as one of Mugi's butlers...I doubt he'll ever appear again)

"Turn the Page" - (the name of the Page's music store)

yukata - (a short-sleeved kimono suited for summertime weather, also worn after baths sometimes)

¥300 - (about $2.90)

¥450 - (about $4.30)

A/N August 30, 2009: Fixed a lot of the Japanese and edited a little as usual. Decided to keep the word "yukata" as there really is no other way to explain it.

A/N June 9, 2010: Fixed the formatting and added the honorifics where they needed to be added.


	7. Bright Light Fright

Well... Hi there. Yeah, sorry, it took me a while to get motivated into writing. I'm kinda in a slump right now because I know I'm running out of canon to write from. *silently curses writers of K-On! for not making more manga* But on to the reason why we're all here... fummins! No wait, fanfiction. Yeah, fanfiction.

Disclaimer: I don't own the right to K-On! or any of the copyrighted characters. I also don't own a lot of the plot progression in this chapter since it will mostly be adapted from the canon storyline as opposed to the past few chapters. I only own the character ideas for the Page family (and several other characters that probably don't matter.)

Onto the show!

* * *

Summer was over.

Normally not something that would make teenagers happy, but Roy smiled shamelessly as he watched the girls of the Keion club chat excitedly. He had a lot to be happy about, summer or not. He had a very cute girlfriend, whom he had been dating for several months now. His birthday was coming up in a few weeks (he needed to start laying some less-than-subtle hints about it, too.) Last, but not least, Roy was happy about finally being able to perform live with the band at the upcoming cultural festival.

Needless to say, Roy Page was as giddy as a schoolgirl... well, schoolboy in this case.

The happiness seemed to radiate off of his body in waves, so it was only a matter of time before one of the girls noticed and questioned him about his incredibly bubbly demeanor.

"Why are you in such high spirits, Roy-kun?" Yui finally asked.

Roy's smile brightened. Roy chuckled before answering, "When I think about how we're going to be able to do a live performance at the school cultural festival soon, I get excited." Roy grinned at the girls sitting at the table with him. "I wanted to see last year's Light Music club performance, too," he added after a moment.

He turned his head when Mio strangely started coughing and sputtering through her tea. The bassist didn't say anything, but quickly blushed and looked away. Ritsu pat the girl on the back as the brunette withdrew herself from the conversation. The drummer turned to Roy apologetically. "Last year, Mio played a very active role," Ritsu said, earning a small glare from the girl she was comforting.

Roy raised an eyebrow in confusion, and almost jumped when a loud female voice erupted behind the two girls. Even he hadn't noticed the teacher enter the room. Sawako was holding something up in her hand as she said, "I have a recoding, if you want last year's live."

Mio suddenly stared at the teacher with a horrified expression. "It's here!" she cried. Roy's eyebrow rose further.

'_This... is strange,'_ Roy told himself, _'stranger than normal for this group.'_ "I want to see it," Roy said simply. Mio turned back to him with the same horrified expression. If Roy's eyebrow rose any higher, he was sure it would get lost in his hair soon.

"Roy-kun, why don't you reconsider?" Mio pleaded with him. Roy's eyebrow rose even higher than before. His forehead was actually beginning to hurt from the strain. He shrugged after a moment.

"Fine," he said. Mio looked like Christmas had come early, but Sawako looked like it had been cancelled. Roy shrugged again. "Mio-chan doesn't want me to see the tape, so I don't want to see it," he explained as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Everyone looked around as the door to the room opened. Nodoka stopped when she noticed six pairs of eyes on her. With an ignored blush, the student council member looked to Ritsu. "Could you please turn in your school festival gym use application?" she asked.

Ritsu laughed sheepishly and scratched the back of her neck. "Ah, I forgot," she admitted quickly. Mio stared at the girl disbelievingly.

Roy watched the scene play out silently. _'I'm surprised Mio-chan isn't used to Ritsu's antics by now,'_ Roy thought. _'She mentioned that they had been friends long before the Music club, so I figured they knew each other pretty well.'_

Nodoka handed an application form to Ritsu, who thrust it at Roy after a quick skim. "Alright, secretary, write it for me," the girl commanded. Roy sweat-dropped.

"So I'm the secretary now?" he asked flatly. Ritsu nodded with a smile. Roy sighed in defeat. "Alright, alright, I'll write it right now."

After reading a few lines and filling in the appropriate information, Roy looked back up at the group. "What's the name of our band?" he asked suddenly. He was quickly bombarded with suggestions from Yui, Ritsu, and Mio.

"'Girl's Group,' right?" Ritsu suggested first. Roy noted that she purposefully said the words incorrectly to make it sound like a mafia group. He shook his head.

Yui was next. "'Sweets, Smile.'" Roy shook his head again.

Mio was next, and Roy sincerely hoped she was better than the other two. "'Chocolate Melody,'" she said. Roy face-palmed and shook his head.

Ritsu crossed her arms in a very leader-like fashion. "Since this is a good chance, why don't we decide now?" she suggested. Roy stared at the girl flatly.

"You've actually been a band for a year, right?" he asked incredulously. Ritsu laughed sheepishly again.

Yui raised a finger in thought. "How about 'Hirasawa Yui and Her Happy Friends?'" the girl asked. Ritsu nearly smacked the guitarist on the head.

"So we're just extras?" the drummer asked angrily. It was Yui's turn to laugh sheepishly this time.

Roy watched as the group went around suggesting a few names, none of which were acceptable. He looked over at Nodoka and shook his head. She repeated the gesture. "I think it will be a while before we're ready, Nodoka-chan," he sighed.

The girl nodded. "I'll just wait around until they settle on something," she replied, mostly oblivious to the minor fight over the band's name taking place.

Roy finally heard one he liked, and made to write it down, but Sawako had grown impatient and took the form before Roy could write "Rocket Pencil" down in the space for the group name. She wrote "Hokago Ti Taimu" instead. "We don't need to put so much thought into this," she suggested.

All of the band members stared at the teacher incredulously. _'It got selfishly decided for us!'_ they all thought as Sawako handed the form back to Nodoka. The student council member took the form and left the group with an even expression.

Sawako turned back to the band with an evil smirk. "Alright, next is your choice of clothes," she said with a sadistic grin. Roy visibly paled.

Ritsu waved her off lightly. "It's alright," she said with a motion to the school uniforms they were all wearing, "we'll be fine with our school uniforms next time, too."

The teacher was unsatisfied. "No, that's boring!" she yelled. "Recently, even though I made you clothes, you won't wear them at all!" Ritsu sweat-dropped. "If you don't wear something for me at the school festival, I'm quitting as your advisor!" Sawako added.

Ritsu quickly grabbed a smiling Mugi and ushered in front of them irate teacher. "If you stop being our advisor, you won't get to eat Mugi's delicious cakes," Ritsu responded. Sawako quickly bowed in apology.

"I'm sorry!" she cried immediately. "That was a lie!" Roy sweat-dropped this time.

Yui walked up to the teacher as she was still bent over in her humble bow. "I want to wear the clothes sensei made," she said softly. Sawako quickly looked up at the girl with gratitude.

"Stop spoiling her," Ritsu said quickly.

Sawako quickly turned and pulled a rack of clothes from nowhere. She quickly reached back and pulled another cart up to the next one. Roy noticed that the second cart had clothes sized for boys...sized for him. Roy visibly paled again.

"Alright," Sawako called, "pick one from these!"

Everyone looked shocked for a moment before Mio and Ritsu settled into a small glare. Ritsu resigned herself to her fate, but Mio was curious. "When did you make all these...?" she muttered.

Roy's faced flushed crimson when Sawako pulled out a (rather skimpy) two-piece woman's swimsuit. "Alright, Yui-chan, try this swimsuit on," Sawako asked sickly.

Ritsu quickly cut off Yui's reply. "L-Let's choose seriously!" she said quickly. She caught Roy's eyes and noticed a rather gratuitous smile. _'You owe me, Page,'_ Ritsu thought quickly.

Mugi suddenly appeared next to Sawako wearing what looked like a waitress uniform. "No," Mio said before Sawako could ask. Mugi then appeared in a slightly revealing Chinese dress. "An even bigger no," Mio replied to the unasked question. Sawako stared at the girl indignantly. Mugi then appeared in a very risqué bunny suit. Roy quickly turned away from the scene, holding his nose as blood threatened to spray out.

Mio raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Is this even possible?" she asked lightly.

Sawako just chuckled evilly. "It's definitely worth getting you to change," she said greedily. Mio shook her head and almost smacked the woman for her antics.

Roy, having stemmed the flow of blood from his nose and cleaned up, noticed something in the clothes rack in front of him. He pulled the cloth out and examined it. "Hey," he called to draw everyone's attention. "How about this?" he asked, holding the yukata up for them all to see.

Mio nodded in approval. "Why don't you try it on?" she asked. Roy paled again and blushed (which would be hard to do at the same time). Mio quickly realized the problem. "Uhh, actually, why don't we have Yui try it on?" Roy blushed deeper. "Roy, you look away," she added quickly.

The boy simply nodded and turned away from the group for a few minutes. Mio told him he could turn back around, and his body twisted back towards the group. His breath hitched when he saw Yui wearing the light blue yukata. She looked just as cute as she had the day of the summer festival.

"Alright!" Sawako called, rousing Roy from his thoughts. "Shall we try practicing in these outfits?" Everyone nodded their agreement. Roy grabbed a yukata from his clothes rack and left the room, heading for the restroom to change clothes there.

Roy noticed Nodoka walking back towards the club room after he had changed. "Nodoka-chan," he said. "Did you need something else from Ritsu?"

Nodoka nodded with a raised eyebrow. "Yeah," she answered strangely, "umm… may I ask why you're wearing a yukata?" Roy laughed a little as he opened the door to the club room.

"We're trying them on to wear at the festival concert," he answered. With a blush, he continued, "I figured it would be in everyone's interest for me to change in the bathroom."

Nodoka laughed as well. Her eyebrows rose again when she saw all of the girls also wearing light blue yukatas. She sighed. "I'll never understand anything that happens in here," she mumbled, causing Roy to snicker. "Ritsu, you all need to have your equipment in the gym an hour before you go on stage, I just needed to let you know." The drummer nodded. Roy made a mental note to remember that since it was likely that Ritsu wouldn't.

Having said what was needed, Nodoka left again, muttering something about crazy friends. The band moved to their instruments and began practicing. The yukatas did not hamper their movement or playing abilities at all. In fact, it seemed like Yui and Ritsu were keeping up well with everyone else.

"Yup, this is good," Mio said as they finished. "It's easy to perform in these." Mugi nodded.

"And it's cute, too," she added.

Yui and Ritsu rounded on Sawako. "Thank you, Sawa-chan!" the guitarist said. "This is really great!"

Ritsu nodded. "So you do good things once in a while," the drummer said with mock surprise.

Roy sighed. "These clothes are fine, I guess," he admitted, "but I'm not entirely comfortable in Japanese clothes." Yui walked over and pecked him lightly on the cheek.

"It'll be okay, Roy-kun," she said softly. The boy smiled back at her.

* * *

_That night..._

Roy lay in his bed, thinking about the day's events. _'It was certainly hectic,'_ he told himself. His face scrunched up in disgust when he thought back on the yukata now. _'Truth be told... I'd rather not wear those clothes.'_ Roy rolled over onto his side with a heavy sigh. _'I'm just not comfortable wearing Japanese clothing. With Yui-chan, it was fine, but I don't know about during a live performance.'_

Roy's thoughts trailed off as he drifted into sleep. Unknown to the boy, others of the Keion club shared his thoughts about the festival garments. Mio and Ritsu both agreed that the idea had been good-natured at first, but embarrassing after calming down later.

One member of the group, however...

"How's this?" Yui asked brightly as she showed off the yukata. "Isn't it cute?" Ui clapped her hands and smiled in agreement.

* * *

_The next day..._

"I'm just really not comfortable in those clothes," Roy admitted sadly. "Sorry, but-"

"It's fine," Ritsu interrupted, "we all started thinking last night. We decided to reconsider." Roy frowned.

"You could have texted me or something then," he said indignantly.

Ritsu laughed and scratched behind her head. "Sorry, sorry."

Mio sat through the exchange quietly. She was watching Yui, who seemed to be several seconds from spacing out (if she wasn't already). "Yui, are you okay?" the bassist asked. "Your face is all red."

Roy instantly became worried as well. Yui laughed a little. The sound made Roy feel worse; it wasn't her normal bright laugh. This was strained and raspy. "I was so excited," Yui began, "that I slept in the yukata last night." Her body finally gave out, her head falling towards the table.

Roy quickly reached out, catching the sick girl and pulling her against him. "I caught a cold," she admitted quietly. Ritsu and Mio stared at the girl with disbelief. One glare from Roy stalled any comments before they could be made, though. He gently stroked the girl's hair. After a few moments, he could hear soft breathing, meaning that the girl had fallen asleep.

He smiled as Yui's weight leaned against him. His arm draped around the girl's shoulders as she slept quietly. He looked up at Mio with a serious face. "Could you call Ui-chan?" he whispered. "I think Yui-chan needs to go home for the day." Mio nodded and quickly made the call.

"Ui-chan," Mio said quietly into the phone, "we need you to come pick up Yui. She got sick and fell asleep in the club room. Don't worry; Roy is taking care of her right now." Mio smiled down at the boy, but he was watching the sleeping girl in his arms. "Sure, see you in a bit." Mio snapped the phone shut quietly and sighed.

"She was going to rush down here," the bassist began, "but she stopped when she heard you were taking care of her, Roy." The boy smiled.

"Thanks, Mio-chan," he said softly.

Mio nodded. "I'll get her guitar packed up." She left Roy and Yui at the table. No one else wanted to bother them, so Ritsu and Mugi kept to themselves until Ui appeared a few minutes later with Sawako.

"How is she?" Ui asked quickly in a soft voice.

Roy smiled. "She's sleeping right now. She'll be fine with some rest, I think," he replied. "She caught a cold from sleeping in that yukata last night. She just needs to rest until her strength comes back." Ui bowed to him gratefully.

"Thank you so much, Roy-kun," she said. Tears had welled up in her eyes.

"It's no problem," he replied. "I'll help you take her home, Ui-chan." The younger girl nodded. She stuck an arm under Yui's and lifted her up with Roy's help. "I'll carry her," he offered after a moment. Ui nodded as Roy picked up Yui's legs and carried her bridal-style out the door.

The others watched as they disappeared out the door. Sawako sighed. "Yui-chan is so lucky," she grumbled. Ritsu and Mio nodded. Mugi watched with a blank expression, but quickly turned to make some tea for Sawako.

* * *

Roy never complained as they walked towards Yui's house. Ui walked quietly alongside him. She glanced at her sister in the boy's arms several times, but she knew the older girl was safe with him. Yui's arms had wrapped around Roy's neck, but he felt no embarrassment. He readjusted the girl's body for a more comfortable grip and continued on.

They finally approached the house. The walk had seemed a short distance for Roy, though. Ui opened the door and directed them to Yui's room. _'Her room looks just like I pictured it,'_ Roy thought before returning his focus to the sleeping girl he was carrying. He gently set the girl down on her bed and pulled the covers over her body.

Ui hung back, letting him have some room. Roy smiled softly at Yui's sleeping form. He brushed some hair from her face and kissed her forehead softly. A glimmer of a smile flashed across Yui's face, but it was gone quickly as if it had never been there.

Roy stood up and turned with a painful smile to Ui. "I'll be back after school to check on her," he whispered. "I assume you're staying home to watch her." It was more of a statement than a question. Ui nodded.

"Yeah," she answered defiantly despite the soft voice, "I'll take care of her, Roy-kun." Her features softened. "You've done enough. Thanks." Roy smiled painfully again.

"Thanks, Ui-chan."

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the long wait. I hate to say it, but this is kinda short. Even still, I liked it. I wrote like 2,000 words of it in one night. My brain didn't even want to stop so I could send it to Comma-chan to beta it.

Good news: 9 news chapters of K-On! available on Onemanga. Woot!

Translations:

Hokago Ti Taimu: the band's name (translates to After School Tea Time)

I'll be on vacation for a week, so it could be quite a while until the next update. Sorry! *hides from reviewers!*

A/N August 30, 2009: Fixed the Japanese. Don't think I edited anything greatly.

A/N: June 12, 2010: Fixed some formatting and some grammar mistakes. Changed the band name to the Japanese name.


	8. Back in the Saddle

Yay! Vacation is over! Time to rest! *avoids random items thrown by readers* Okay, I was kidding! I'm working on the story! Yeesh...

Oh, OneManga added a chapter 27 to K-On! that they had been missing, so go check it out (too bad it's short a few pages.) And apparently there is a "special" chapter in between 27 and 18 that advertises the coming of the anime in a way that sounds like it hasn't been released yet. While strange, the chapter is mostly funny and shows the characters' reactions to becoming an anime. Check it out.

Lots of fluff in this chapter probably. Roy's overprotective. Luckily, Comma-chan isn't on right now, so she has some time before she gags from the fluffiness.

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to K-On! If I did... well it wouldn't be good for anyone involved.

Random advertisement: Aikuchi Shikaku has begun a K-On! story involving several of my OCs, namely the Page family. The story is very interesting so far. It is a Naruto crossover and involves his sadness after losing his wife. Everyone should check it out. And yes, Shikaku-san has my permission to borrow Roy for the story.

* * *

'_Onee-chan...'_

Ui's thoughts never strayed from her sister's condition as she moved mechanically through her school day. Yui's cold hadn't gone away after a few days, and Ui was worried. The girl sighed heavily. If she was worried, however, Roy was on the brink of having a heart attack.

Roy hadn't been back to school since Yui came down with her illness either. Instead, he spent every day at the girl's house, taking care of her. Ui was grateful for the boy, but it was becoming unhealthy. He hadn't eaten much in the past several days, and it was beginning to show.

'_He never smiles, either,'_ Ui told herself. _'Maybe he'll smile once Onee-chan gets better.'_

A loud snap threw Ui from her thoughts as the classroom door burst open. Ritsu and Mio had invaded the first years' classroom during lunch period. "How is Yui's condition?" Mio asked softly. Ui sighed again.

"She's still rather sick, but..." Ui trailed off. Ritsu and Mio looked confused. "Roy-kun has been coming over to take care of her every day." The other two girls looked shocked; they had noticed the boy's absence, but had no clue of where he had been. "He stays all day until I come back from school." Ui's eyes began to fill slightly with tears. Mio leaned down and gently hugged the distraught girl to her chest.

"Shhh," Mio cooed as Ui sobbed into her uniform, "it's okay. It's fine." Ritsu looked on with a sad face. Mio suddenly looked up at the drummer. "Ritsu, can you call Roy and tell him we're staying over at the school tomorrow night for practice?" Mio asked, receiving a nod from her friend. "And ask him to bring Yui if it's possible." Ritsu looked concerned, but nodded again before leaving to make the call.

Mio looked back down at the small girl in her arms. "Ui-chan," Mio cooed. Ui whimpered in response. "Ui-chan, I think you ought to go home for the rest of the day. You seem really upset." Ui nodded lightly before getting up to inform the teacher.

Mio sighed as she headed back to her own classroom._ 'Yui... I envy you for having so many people who care about you,'_ Mio thought.

* * *

_The next day..._

Roy sighed heavily. Ui had forced him to go school that day, saying she would stay home to take care of Yui. Roy had protested, but Ui reminded him that he had already been absent for several days. So Roy reluctantly trudged to school that morning, much to his own displeasure.

Roy stayed in the club room after school (only by Ritsu's warning of punishment if he didn't). He and the three girls simply lounged around for a while, making Roy wonder if they were actually doing anything today or simply trying to annoy him. _'I should be watching over Yui right now,' _he thought irritably.

His thoughts were broken by the opening of the door, revealing the very person he had been thinking about. Yui seemed bright and cheerful as she greeted everyone. In fact, her demeanor seemed too cheerful for someone who had just been sick with a bad cold for four days. Roy narrowed his eyes at Yui as she walked in. Something was up.

"Ah, you came!" Mio said as she noticed the guitarist. Yui nodded. "You okay?" Mio asked. "Is your cold alright?"

Yui seemed nervous for a moment. "Ah, the cold..." she mumbled before she began coughing and sneezing in an obviously false manner.

"You're faking," Mio said flatly. The bassist shrugged. "You'll be fine."

"I'd heard that it was going to take longer," Ritsu said. Yui smiled.

"It's because Ui took such good care of me!" she replied enthusiastically. Roy's eyes widened.

'_When I left Yui yesterday, she still felt horrible,'_ he told himself. _'There's no way she would be well enough to come to school...'_ Roy's thought trailed off as the answer hit him dead on. He smiled lightly at Yui. "You know," he said quickly, "if you're fine, you should have come to school earlier." Yui blushed.

"I got well just when school ended!" she answered abruptly.

"You just wanted to play hooky," Mio grumbled.

Roy walked over to Yui and leaned over. He cupped her cheek with his left hand and lightly pecked her other cheek, making the girl blush. "Ui-chan," he whispered softly before pulling away.

Ui froze in place at hearing what he said. It was obvious no one else could have heard what he said, but... _'The fact that he figured me out so quickly...'_ Ui thought. _'Does he know Onee-chan that well?'_

Roy smiled as he watched Ui's internal conflict. "Come on," he said, quickly brining the girl back to the real world, "Let's get to practicing. We don't have a lot of time left." The rest nodded and moved to their instruments.

Once they were all ready, Mio called, "Well, let's do it, then!"

"Let's go!" Ritsu answered. She tapped her drum sticks together, calling out with the beat, "1! 2! 3! 4!" They began playing, but Mio, Ritsu, and Mugi stopped after a moment with confused looks on their faces. Roy watched with amusement, but kept his features oblivious to the situation, waiting for the others to continue.

"Something... wasn't right," Mio explained. "Let's try that again!" The others nodded and made to start again. As soon as they started, Mio quickly turned to look at Yui. "As... As I thought."

Mio quickly rounded on the girl. "You're too on-tempo!" she cried. "It's never felt like this before!" Roy fought back a laugh.

"You're rhythm is too perfect," Ritsu continued Mio's explanation. It's... it's kinda scary." Ritsu mumbled. "Yui, did something go wrong with you 'cuz you were sick?"

Ui was incredibly nervous now. She stared at Roy, pleading for help. "Isn't it better like this, Ritsu-san?" she asked shakily.

"Since you're this good, there was no reason to stay and practice," Mio said after a moment. Ritsu was staring at Yui with a confused expression, however.

"What's with calling me 'Ritsu-san' all of a sudden?" she asked strangely. Roy suppressed a grin.

"Isn't it time to stop acting?" Sawako said suddenly, making Ritsu jump. The teacher's eyes flashed evilly as she sipped her tea. "Ui-chan..."

"You were here...?" Ritsu asked, before turning back to Yui. "Rather, Ui-chan?"

"I have no idea what you are saying!" Ui answered in a sing-song voice. Roy smirked.

"Then say Ritsu's nickname," he replied, earning a glare from Ui.

"Um, uh," Ui stuttered. "Ritsu #2?" she said after a moment. The drummer gasped.

"You're a fake!" Ritsu cried.

Ui sighed and pulled her hair up into its usual ponytail, showing that she was not her sister. "Yes..." she said. "Sorry, Onee-chan still seems to be sick." Roy's smirk vanished quickly. "I thought maybe I could fill in for her if it comes to that," Ui mumbled after a moment.

"Well," Mio said, "you were so similar; I really couldn't tell the difference." Ui blushed.

Ritsu turned to look at Sawako. "How did Sawa-chan figure it out so quickly?" she asked. The teacher shrugged her shoulders.

"The bust size is completely different," she said flatly. Roy facepalmed.

"Ero-sensei..." he muttered.

"Actually," Ui said, "Roy-kun figured it out almost as soon as I walked in the room." The others looked shocked, but Roy blushed. "He told me so when he, um..." Ui blushed as well. "When he kissed my cheek." Roy blushed again.

"I just figured that there was no way Yui would be better after I left yesterday," he answered. "She still felt horrible." Mio's face fell into a frown. "It'll be a few days before she's well enough to play." Roy turned back to look at Ui. "That aside," he said, "you could play guitar?"

"I just practiced for a few days," she replied. Roy's eyes widened.

"This much in a few days?" he cried.

"It might be better if Yui took her time and rested," Ritsu mumbled. Roy and Mio glared at the girl evilly.

Elsewhere, Yui gave a mighty sneeze while lying in her bed.

* * *

_3 days before the school festival..._

Mio smiled at the rest of the group as practice ended for the day. Even if Yui hadn't gotten well enough to return yet, everyone was still trying their best for the concert. Roy had refrained from skipping school to stay with Yui; he was only going after practice. _'Apparently, Yui has gotten a little better,'_ Mio thought, _'or else he wouldn't leave her like that for the whole school day.'_ Mio smiled again at the boy's chivalry.

"I wonder when Yui's gonna come back," Ritsu said randomly as she took a sip from her water bottle.

"She's been sick for a week now, hasn't she?" Mugi added. Roy nodded in response.

"At this rate," Mio said sadly, "we'll have to perform without her." Roy looked saddened, but stayed quiet.

* * *

_The next day..._

Mio and Roy were surprised to find out that Yui had come to school that day, surprising Mugi and Ritsu by showing up for class earlier. Roy had been skeptical when Yui walked into the club room, but quickly decided that Ui was not pretending again. He quickly wrapped the sick girl in a hug that was half-heartedly returned.

Roy looked relieved, but Mio also noticed a hint of worry in his eyes. "I was thinking we wouldn't make it in time for the festival," Roy confessed.

"Ah, gomen," Yui replied weakly with a small bow.

Mio walked up next to the girl, saying, "It's good that we made it, though." She smacked Yui on the back for assurance, but her expression quickly turned to shock when Yui flopped face-down onto the floor from the impact.

Roy and Mio helped the girl into a nearby chair and Yui settled into it with several grunts of pain. "Since the festival is coming up," she explained, "I thought I should try to come back and practice, but I guess I didn't fully recover yet." Yui sighed heavily at looked around at her friends. "It might be better to do the concert without me."

Roy quickly rounded on the girl. "No!" he said forcefully. "It would be better to not have a concert at all if it comes to that!" Yui reached up and hugged Roy, happy that he cared so much for her. Mio watched with apprehension.

"Yui," she said, "don't come back until the performance." Yui looked shocked.

"I- I'm not allowed to play?" she asked. Roy looked suspicious as well.

"No," Mio replied gently, "rest well until the concert and fully cure you cold. Got it?"

Yui nodded excitedly. "Ok!" she said happily before giving a powerful sneeze directly into Ritsu's face.

"Ewww," Roy and Mio said at the same time.

Roy pulled out his phone and dialed Ui's number as Mugi wiped the snot from Ritsu's face. "Ui-chan?" he said. "Are you still in school? Yui collapsed in the band room and we need you to come pick her up." He paused for a moment, waiting for a response when he heard the door fly open, revealing the girl he had been talking to. _'She's fast!'_ Roy told himself.

"Onee-chan!" Ui cried, still holding her cell phone. She cradled one arm around Yui's shoulders and led her back out the door. She turned back after a moment and looked at Roy. "Are you coming, Roy-kun?" He gave a sad smile in return.

"No," he replied, "I need to stay and help with moving the equipment." Ui nodded. "I'll be over later, though, if that's okay."

"Alright." And the two sisters left.

Mio looked at Ritsu and Mugi for a moment. "Could you two help Roy move the equipment to the gym?" she asked. Ritsu looked uncomfortable.

"I think I caught Yui's cold," she said in a false shaky voice. Roy lightly slapped the back of the drummer's head.

"Don't mess around like that," he said sternly. Ritsu nodded quickly and went to begin moving equipment.

The girl looked at Mio after a moment. "I guess you need to practice singing in case Yui can't sing," she said teasingly. Mio declined rather loudly, but Roy raised his hand.

"I can sing," he offered. Ritsu eyed him carefully.

"We've never heard you sing in Japanese," she explained.

Roy shrugged his shoulders. "You never asked if I could."

Ritsu and Mio stared at him for a moment before shrugging their shoulders and moving on. It wasn't their concern, and Mio was more than happy to have someone else sing.

* * *

((A/N This scene and those that follow will go by the anime instead of the manga. Bear with me.))

_The day of the school festival..._

The atmosphere at the Sakura High school festival was lively and exuberant. The atmosphere inside the band room for the Light Music Club was anything but. Inside the club room, four anxious students let out a collective sigh.

Mio sighed heavily as she awaited the time for them to head to the auditorium. Mugi sighed heavily as she but a small slice of cake out for Ritsu. Ritsu sighed as she ate her cake. Roy sighed as he hoped that Yui would arrive to play the gig with them.

Roy was becoming very nervous as timed ticked on. Yui had sent everyone a text message saying that she would definitely make it to the performance. _'I haven't seen Yui in a few days, actually,'_ Roy told himself. _'I wonder if she really feels okay to play.'_ Roy sighed again as he watched the clock on the wall.

"It's 12:30 already," he said absently. Behind him, Roy heard Mio sigh.

"I guess we should practice," Ritsu said as she began tapping her drum sticks against her bag, "without Yui." Mio sighed again.

"I suppose there's no helping it-" the girl began.

"No!" Roy said quickly without looking back at them. "Yui will be here," he said forcefully. The boy turned around to look at the girls and they found tears in his eyes. "She will," he added weakly. Mio smiled and nodded.

"Right," The bassist agreed.

All four band members jumped when they heard the door open. They turned to see who had entered and found Nodoka. "What's going on?" she asked curiously. Roy sighed and returned to staring at the clock. The student council member raised an eyebrow at the boy, but ignored him. "The stage will be ready in ten minutes," she said professionally. "Show up at the auditorium at 1 o'clock as planned."

"Okay," Mio agreed.

"Is everyone here?" Nodoka asked. Roy refrained from glaring at the girl. He wasn't in a good mood, but the girl had the gall to not even notice her own best friend? Roy grimaced, but kept his features towards the clock.

No one answered Nodoka's question, but she wrote something down on her clipboard and said, "Light Music Club... All members ready." Mio looked up at the girl with surprise.

"Nodoka," she mumbled.

Nodoka then proceeded to run through a story about her and Yui from when the girls were very young. Nodoka explained that Yui was temporarily obsessed with collecting crawfish. "Whenever she becomes interested in something," Nodoka explained, "she can't see anything but that one thing." The girl grinned at Roy, who had finally looked up at her. "She's probably already forgotten about her cold." Roy smiled back at her.

Roy jumped again when the door opened once more. The boy nearly face-faulted when Sawako stepped through the door. "Sup, ya'll?" she asked stupidly.

"Get a clue!" Ritsu snapped. The teacher eased away from the girl. "What have you been doing this whole time? We're all in big trouble right now."

"Of course I wasn't just slacking off," Sawako replied matter-of-factly. "I thought it would be cold, so I made a cold-resistant version of the yukatas!"

All four band members sweat-dropped as they glared at the teacher. "I wish she could put that motivation to use somewhere else," they all said simultaneously. Sawako ignored the combined comment, and turned with a flourish to the doorway.

"And this is the finished costume!" she cried. From the doorway emerged Yui wearing a pink yukata with fluff on the edges to keep the wearer warmer. Yui smiled sheepishly at the surprised expressions on everyone's faces.

"Hi," she said with an embarrassed smile.

"Yui!" Ritsu cried.

"If you're here, you should have come here directly!" Mio admonished.

"Sorry," the guitarist said with another smile. She suddenly looked over to where Roy was still sitting down. His face had fallen into a blank stare with his eyes glued to Yui. "Roy-kun?" she asked tentatively.

Roy merely stared at her. His amazement must have shown on his face because he noticed Yui blush and smile. Roy shook his head and smiled back at the girl. "H- Hey, Yui-chan," he said after a moment. Yui returned the greeting in kind. "I would kiss you if you hadn't just been sick for the past week," he added with a smirk. Yui blushed again.

"Yui," Roy murmured, "I was really worried about you." Yui blushed and jumped into the boy's arms as he stood from his seat. His arms wrapped the girl in a warm embrace. "Yui..." he mumbled protectively.

The others turned away from the somewhat private moment. "I'm sorry I made you worry," Yui cried into Roy's chest. "I'll do my best with everyone, okay?" She sniffed through here tears and looked up at him. "Let's have the best gig ever." Roy smiled and nodded.

Nodoka checked her phone and looked up. "It's time," she said brightly. "Let's go."

The five reunited band members cheered in agreement. Yui suddenly looked around with a confused expression, though. "Where's Gitah?" she asked nervously. The others looked around as well. "It was here, wasn't it?"

"Ah, Ui-chan took it back!" Ritsu answered suddenly. Yui's eyes widened with fear.

"Oh yeah!" she said. "What should I do?"

Roy placed a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder. "It's okay, Yui-chan," he said. "I have a guitar you can use." He pointed to one of his guitars across the room. "Will you be fine if it isn't Gitah?"

Yui didn't look excited, though. "I'd rather have Gitah with me," she answered truthfully. "Thanks, though, Roy-kun." He smiled.

"That's fine," he said. "You run home and bring Gitah back." Yui nodded. "Sawa-sensei can play while you're gone."

"Don't I get a say in this?" the teacher asked indignantly.

"No!" everyone replied at once.

"We need to go," Nodoka reminded them.

"Ah, right," Mio complied. "Yui, go get your guitar. We'll be fine."

"Okay!" Yui left quickly. The others left behind her, heading for the auditorium.

* * *

Roy grimaced when he heard the announcement of the band. The auditorium was packed, but Roy could barely make out the form of Hirasawa Ui at the back of the room. Yui had yet to return, and Roy had to admit that he was nervous. Nodoka had informed the group that they only had time to play two songs, and Roy wasn't sure that Yui would return in time to play either of them.

He sighed and plastered a fake grin on his face as he turned to look at the band. He was standing off to the side. Mio had elected to be the lead vocalist since she knew the lyrics better than Roy. And admittedly, Roy was severely grateful for the girl's choice after seeing the lyrics. _'Why are all of Mio-chan's lyrics so strange?'_ he asked himself oddly.

Roy was thrown from his ponderings when Ritsu began counting out the beat to begin the first song. Roy's fingers moved nimbly through the song as he played, but his mind was elsewhere. He was thinking about his girlfriend. He almost messed up when his mind said that word, but he passed it off easily enough. Roy focused his mind on the song while Mio sang.

He allowed one last thought, however. _'Yui-chan, make it back!'

* * *

_

Yui scrambled into her house, barely remembering to kick her shoes off. She mentally cursed herself for even bothering to do so; it would just slow her down. Ignoring her own admonishment, Yui ran through her house and flung open the door to her room. She quickly picked up her guitar and streaked back out, slipping a little on the hard wood flooring.

She regained her balance and ran back towards the front door. She quickly slipped her shoes back on and ran back out the door, absently pulling it closed on her way out.

Yui thought as she ran back towards the school. _'Come to think of it,'_ she pondered, _'I ran on this road the day of the entrance ceremony.'_ She thought back to the shy little girl standing on the street corner that she used to be, but pushed onward. _'I was thinking about something I had to prove.'_ Her mind showed her a lonely girl walking slowly towards the school, but Yui blocked out the image.

'I was wondering about what I should do then,' Yui continued as she remembered helping an older woman across the intersection that day. _'I wondered whether I would stay as a simple-minded child or become an adult.'_

She had to stop running as she came to the train tracks where a train was crossing. Yui bounced on her toes as she waited for the train to pass before running by after the security bar had risen. After a few moments, Yui resumed her inner monologue.

'_Hey, me,'_ she thought sternly. _'Me from that time... you don't have to be worried.'_ Yui ran as a red light blinked to green, allowing her to cross the road. _'You'll find it soon. Something you can do. Something you can concentrate on.'_

An image of Roy's smiling face entered Yui's mind as she turned into the school courtyard. _'Precious...'_ She ran past a concession stand and hurried on. _'Precious...'_ Yui could see the entrance to the auditorium just ahead of her. _'A precious place for me!'_ she told herself finally.

She flung open the doors to the auditorium with one last thought. _'People precious to me!'_

"Onee-chan!" Ui cried as Yui ran by.

"Heh?" Yui stuttered. "Oh, Ui!" The older girl raised her hand and formed a peace sign with her right hand. "Peace!" she cried before running towards the stage.

"Onee-chan! Go for it!" Ui cried.

"Yeah!" she called back as the band came to the end of the first song. She noticed the looks on everyone's faces as she ran forward. Ui stopped just in front of the stage. Her breathing was shallow and she looked a mess, but she was where she belonged. Yui stared up at the band for a moment as the crowd began cheering.

Roy and the other girls gathered around the front of the stage as Yui pulled herself up. She almost slipped, but she made it up safely. She gave Sawako a relieved smile. "Sawa-chan-sensei, thank you," she said tiredly.

The teacher nodded and waved. "Then I leave the rest to you," she said before exiting the stage. The crowd cheered for the teacher as Sawako left the stage, proclaiming how awesome she was.

Yui quickly turned back to the band with an innocent look. "Sorry, everyone," she said softly. "Come to think of it, I'm always causing trouble for all of you." Tears began welling up in her eyes, but Roy stepped forward. He shifted his Gibson Marauder to the side, allowing him to hug the girl. Yui gasped when she felt his arms encircle her. "At such an important time..." she mumbled into his shirt.

Roy pulled back and fixed the tie of her school uniform as tears leaked from the girl's eyes. "Fix your tie properly, at least," he said soothingly. He stepped back into line with the others.

"We all love you, Yui," Ritsu proclaimed. Yui sucked up her tears and somehow enveloped all four of the other band members in a group hug. They could hear applause and cheers from the crowd.

Yui composed herself and turned back to the crowd with her guitar out. "Sorry, everyone!" she called. "Once again, we are 'After-School Tea Time!'" Roy smiled proudly at his girlfriend. "I caused all of this delay today because I forgot my guitar at home," she explained. She playfully looked down at her guitar. "Gitah, I'm sorry I forgot you." The crowd laughed along with the band.

"We started the Light Music Club saying, 'Let's perform at Budokan!'" she continued. "We all worked part-time to buy my guitar. We drank tea every day in the club room and talked a lot. We had training camps at Mugi-chan's vacation houses." Yui glanced back at Roy to find him staring at her with a huge grin. She smiled back at continued on. "We looked for first year students who would join our club, but we got Roy-kun instead!" The crowd laughed as Roy mock-glared at the back of Yui's head. "But I couldn't be happier!" Yui added brightly.

"I won't say we took all of our time seriously. I could never say that. But here..." Yui smiled out to the audience. "Where we are, here in this auditorium... This is our Budokan!" The crowd cheered loudly as Yui continued, "We will sing with all our might until the end!" Yui gave a happy grin back to the band before turning around, crying out, "'Fuwa Fuwa Time!'" The crowd cheered loudly again as the band began playing the song. Yui was on lead guitar since she knew the song better; Roy was playing rhythm guitar.

Roy watched his girlfriend sing as the song went on. His heart welled up with pride as he knew that this girl... the same girl that had always been clueless and simple-minded had now grown into a mature woman. And he was proud that he could call this girl his girlfriend.

The song ended and Yui simply let out a heavy sigh. The audience was quiet as she looked around at her friends and smiled. Everyone looked back at Mugi as she began playing again. Ritsu joined in after a moment, followed by Mio. Roy grinned at Yui and started playing as well. Yui joined in quickly, everyone playing the main riff to the song as she crowd cheered again. They cheered even louder when Yui turned around, yelling, "One more!" Yui sang the chorus again and the crowd cheered loudly through the entire song.

Once they finished, Yui threw her hands in the air happily. "I love light music!" she cried to the heavens.

* * *

A/N: Well, there we go. Yeah, I know this took a long time to get out, but you can't really blame me. For one, I was on vacation for a week. Blame my brother for that. Secondly, this is a fairly long chapter (as far as my chapters go). I hope you liked the anime ending. I decided it would be better to follow Yui and get her thoughts about Roy and the band rather than taking the easy way and just ranting about how nervous Roy was.

I'll add in another advertisement for Aikuchi Shikaku-san's story, Star Burst. It has my OCs, the Page family, in it. It's a Naruto x K-On! crossover so it should be very interesting!

I'll also throw in a random advertisement for Bloodstained Comma-chan since she's being so gracious as to beta-read my fics. You should really check her out. Her writing deserves more praise.

While you're at it, check out Songbird21, she's one of my favorite authors for Naruto fanfiction. I beta-read for her story, "Colors of Life and Death," and I must say it's a fascinating story.

Okay, now that advertisements are over...

Translations!

Budokan - (not sure of a full translation, but it's essentially a gathering of famous bands (similar to "Ozzfest") that the Keion club promised to play at eventually; see early chapters of K-On! manga or early episodes of the anime for details)

"Fuwa Fuwa Time" - "Fluffy Fluffy Time" (also translated as "Light & Fluffy Time") (one of the band's first songs)

A/N September 23, 2009: Fixed the Japanese. Some of the translations ("I love light music!") seem weird to me, but it seems better than the Japanese stuff.

A/N June 12, 2010: Fixed the formatting. Changed some more Japanese stuff because the version on my computer didn't have the changes that are on the live site.


	9. Get a Grip

Gah! What happened to the time? My mom stole me away Sunday afternoon to watch Harry Potter DVDs and the rest of the previous week was spent on my new Naruto fic (check it out lol). So yeah, this one's a bit late... and where the heck is Comma-chan? *spazzes* Why isn't she on to beta?

Okay... *calms down* Time to write! Wait... crap! Winter filler chapter... geez...

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from K-On! but I do somewhat own the ideas for the Page family characters.

* * *

((A/N: These scenes will follow the anime since there's more story there than in the manga for this filler arc. I will return to the manga after this since the anime decided to randomly stop.))

"It's so cold!" Yui cried in a shaky voice as she entered the club room. Roy and Mugi looked up as she walked in and took a seat next to Ritsu. "It's so cold," she said again, quieter this time. Yui looked over to Ritsu and asked, "Ricchan, don't you feel cold?"

"It definitely is cold," Ritsu replied in a strange voice. Roy figured it sounded like a voice similar to what mothers use to talk to infants.

"Definitely," Yui echoed. She stared at Ritsu blankly for a moment. "Ricchan..." Yui slapped her cold hands against Ritsu's warm cheeks ((not those cheeks, perverts!)) and sighed with content, ignoring Ritsu cries of protest. Roy chuckled along with the others. "Ricchan's cheeks are really warm!" Yui noted.

"What are you doing?" Ritsu yelled. She slapped her own hands against Yui's cheeks, causing the guitarist to cry out in response to the cold touch. Roy was fighting not to fall in the floor from laughing so hard. His stomach hurt and his body was bent over. The laughter racked his body, but he couldn't stop. After a moment, he righted himself and wiped a tear from his eye.

By that time, Yui had moved to the other side of the room and was attempting to play her guitar. Roy noted that she had brought her Dean Soltero instead of "Gitah." _'If her other guitar is called "Gitah," then is this one called "Gitwo?"'_ he thought with a small laugh.

"It's so cold that I can't even play 'Gitwo!'" Yui exclaimed after a moment. Roy face-palmed.

'_I wasn't serious!'_ he cried mentally.

"Oh, I have a good idea!" Yui said. "I'll just play with my gloves on." Roy raised an eyebrow at his girlfriend, knowing how that was going to end.

"I don't think that will work, Yui," he offered meekly, but the girl ignored him.

"All right!" Yui said as she pulled her gloves on. Roy sighed and watched as she attempting in vain to play her guitar. The gloves prevented her from holding the pick very well and the cloth kept getting stuck in the strings. "Ah! They're getting caught in the strings!" she cried after a moment.

Roy sighed again. "I don't want to say 'I told you so,' but..." he said softly. Yui crossed her arms and huffed. She pulled off the gloves indignantly and set them in the seat next to her.

"I'm disappointed," she said evenly as she glared down at the gloves. Mio walked by and laughed.

"Hey, Ritsu," she called to the drummer who was sitting behind her drum set. The brown-haired girl didn't seem to notice that her friend was calling for her. Roy noticed that she had a rather dejected look on her face as if something was bothering her. Mio's smile faltered. "Ritsu?" the bassist called again. Still no response. "Ritsu, what's wrong?"

Yui got up and waved her hand in front of the girl's face to get her attention. "Ricchan?" Ritsu stared right through Yui, not paying any attention to her friends. Roy became worried... it looked as though Ritsu was staring through Yui... at him. "Ricchan!" Yui called, louder this time. The drummer finally jumped and looked up at her friends. "What's wrong?" Yui asked softly.

The girl hesitated for a moment. "Nothing at all!" she replied hastily. Grabbing two strands of hair on each side of her face, Ritsu twisted the hair up and formed what was supposed to look like a mustache. "Look, mustache!" Yui laughed and tried to get her hair to do the same. Roy started laughing again. It was a funny day...

Even if it was really cold.

Yui suddenly turned around and looked sorrowfully at her gloves. "Bukuro-chan!" she called. Roy sweat-dropped again. Yui kneeled down in front of the seat sadly. "I'm sorry for being mad at you!"

Roy raised an eyebrow again. "You've been naming things again?" he asked lightly.

Yui stared up at the ceiling for a moment. "It's all winter's fault," she said plainly.

"Don't blame winter," Roy replied flatly.

Yui suddenly turned to look at Roy with a gleeful face. "That's right, Roy-kun!" she said happily. "There are plenty of fun things to do on winter days!" ((Not that! Perverts!))

Roy quirked an eyebrow again. _'And that had what to do with the previous conversation?'_ he wondered.

"Oh yeah!" Yui continued. "Let's have a hotpot at my house on Sunday! Hotpot!" Everyone groaned softly except for Roy. "Eh?"

Mugi was the first to reply. "I'm very sorry, but I have something to do that day," she explained.

"Me too" Ritsu answered next. "I promised my little brother I'd take him to see a movie," she said.

Yui looked distressed. "Mio-chan," she said, looking up at the girl from her position on the floor, "what about you?"

"I can't either," Mio replied. "I'm going to write a new song."

"No way," Yui grumbled, causing Mio to sweat-drop.

"You and Ritsu are always distracting me so I can't concentrate," Mio explained flatly. She pulled out a notepad and flipped it open, revealing what she had written down... or drawn in this case. "See?" The page was filled with random doodles and blotches of color.

Yui and Ritsu had the good sense to look embarrassed. "We're very sorry!" they cried at the same.

After a few moments, everyone had recomposed themselves and gathered back around the tea table. "I guess I'll have to do it with Ui and Gitah," Yui said offhandedly. Roy's face sunk into a frown. Yui laughed. "Ah, Roy-kun, what about you?"

The boy laughed a little. "I'd love to come, Yui-chan," he replied brightly. "I don't have anything to do Sunday." Yui cheered and hugged Roy's neck playfully.

"Yay, Roy-kun!" she yelled. "Winter definitely calls for hotpots!"

* * *

_Later that day..._

"Roy-kun, it's totally winter already!" Yui cried as all of the band members walked down the street after club activities had ended. "The gloves Ui gave me are warm!"

"Geez, she's so mature!" Ritsu called from ahead of them. "I want a sister like her."

Roy laughed, but his eyes watched Mugi stealthily. She seemed... dejected, similar to how Ritsu had been earlier. Was there something going on that he didn't know about? Roy tuned out Yui and Ritsu's playful banter as he noticed Mugi stop behind them. She was looking at something down the turnoff road that Roy couldn't see.

"Hey!" she called suddenly. Everyone turned to look at her.

"What's up, Mugi-chan?" Yui asked.

"I have something to do today," the pianist replied.

"Did something come up?" Yui asked.

"Yeah..." Mugi replied uncertainly. "Well... Bye!" She turned and ran down the side road and out of sight.

"What's up with her?" Yui asked. "Maybe she's meeting up with someone?"

"You mean like a boyfriend?" Mio suggested.

Roy didn't really care one way or another. As far as he was concerned, Mugi was a rich girl, and rich families had a lot of things to take care of. Roy did happen to notice, however, that Ritsu's ears perked up a bit at the mention of the word "boyfriend." He also noticed the drummer glance at him. He quirked an eyebrow as the girl looked away from him again; Roy saw a tinge of pink on the girl's cheeks, and he suspected it wasn't just from the cold wind. _'Well that's... strange,'_ he admitted.

"See you!" Mio called to Yui and Roy. She and Ritsu were going down a different road from them.

"See you guys next week!" Yui replied as they left.

Roy and Yui walked in silence in the way home. Yui had latched onto Roy's arm, and he subconsciously draped it over her shoulders, drawing her into his embrace. It was much warmer. Still, Roy's thoughts had stayed back at that intersection. Ritsu and Mugi were acting strange, and Roy was slightly worried; more so for Ritsu since it seemed to involve him somehow. A weak tugging on his arm brought Roy back to the waking world.

"Roy-kun," Yui protested, "we passed my house already. Are you okay? You looked like you were thinking pretty hard about something."

"I'm fine," Roy said warmly with a smile. They turned back towards Yui's house and began walking again. "I was just thinking... Mugi-chan and Ricchan were acting kinda funny today."

"Were they?" Yui asked blankly. Roy smirked.

"Yeah, remember?" he said with a laugh. "Ritsu wasn't paying attention while you and Mio were trying to talk to her."

"Oh yeah!" Yui said quickly. "She was acting a bit weird."

"Yeah," Roy replied slowly. "I kinda noticed that she was staring at me all that time, too."

Yui looked worriedly up at her boyfriend. "Did you do something to her?" she asked accusingly. Roy laughed again.

"Nah, nah," he replied shortly. "I didn't do anything. But it kinda worried me, though." Yui nodded. "And I noticed that Mugi seemed kind of nervous when we were walking just now." Yui looked up at him again. "She was kinda fidgety and she kept staring off down that road as we passed it."

Yui sighed. "Why is it we're the only normal ones?" she asked sarcastically. Roy chuckled again. Today was a funny day.

* * *

Thoughts and ideas ran rampant through Ritsu's mind as she stared at her ceiling. The bed supported her weight comfortably as she lie on her back. After a while, Ritsu leaned over pulled something out from her bag. The paper had some writing on it.

"'No matter how cold it is on winter days, I'm happy,'" Ritsu recited out loud. She moved over to lie on her stomach as she read. "'When I see your breath draw white as you run, I think of how your parted hair fits you so well. But I want to see how you look with your bangs down.'" She stared blankly at her writing for a moment, thoughts jumbling in her mind.

'_Why would he write something like this?'_

'_What about her?'_

'_Was it really him?'_

'_Who else could have written it?'_

'_I don't know any other guys that closely.'_

"Roy...kun?" she wondered aloud.

With a blush marking her cheeks, Ritsu got up from the bed and walked across her small bedroom to a tiny vanity mirror on her dresser. She removed the top from a small case on the dresser and applied a small amount of gel to her hair. She straightened her bangs out and stared at her reflection.

'_No one would recognize me if they saw me like this,'_ she though idly. _'Not without the hair band.'_ "I look weird," she said out loud after a moment.

"Nee-chan, are you ready yet?"

Ritsu jumped, not expecting to hear her brother's voice. She was embarrassed by what she had just been doing, but she quelled the feeling quickly. "I'll be right there!" she called back while ruffling her hair a bit. She replaced her usual yellow hair band and grabbed a jacket from the floor. She ran out, but turned back to grab her phone as well.

The paper lie discarded on the bedside table.

* * *

"So no one's coming except Roy-kun?" Ui complained. Yui nodded as they walked down the aisle of the supermarket as Ui dropped some milk into the buggy. Roy walked alongside them silently. He didn't know what all they wanted for the hotpot, so he left the sisters to their work.

"That's too bad," Ui said.

"Let's create a new style of hotpot today!" Yui said suddenly. "We'll have it next time when everyone comes over."

Roy smiled at the girl's ever-bubbly attitude. It was one of the reason he l- What was that flavor?

Roy stared at his girlfriend strangely. "Marshmallow soy milk?" he asked incredulously, earning a glance from the two girls. "Chocolate curry? Sorry, but those don't sound very appetizing." Roy shook his head.

"Onee-chan, I don't think that will work," Ui said brightly. Roy sighed in relief.

'_At least one of them understands...'_

Yui glared at the two of them. "They might be tasty," she grumbled, "you never know." Roy chuckled.

"Onee-chan, let's buy some strawberry milk, too!" Ui suggested suddenly.

Yui gasped and stared at her sister with half-lidded, happy eyes. "Ui," she said in a mushy voice, "you're so thoughtful." Roy chuckled again. Hanging out with these girls was too much fun.

* * *

_Elsewhere..._

Mio clenched her fists together to hold in as much warmth as possible. The biting winter air cut through her feeble defense. "It's so cold!" she whispered. Mio stared out to the ocean in front of her. The waves lapped softly against the shore beneath the rock she was sitting on. The open page in her notepad was empty.

'_I can't think of anything for the song,'_ she though sadly. _'I should have just gone to Yui's house for hotpot.'_ She paused. _'But it seems that everyone else had something to do, so... I wonder what everyone is doing.'

* * *

_

Tainaka Satoshi shivered as he walked alongside his older sister. The movie they had just left had been interesting. It was one of the few good movies that came out during the winter; those were few and far between.

"It's freezing," Satoshi said shakily. "What happened to global warming?"

"Of course it's cold during winter," Ritsu answered flatly. She smirked over to her brother, watching his shiver shamelessly. "Man, look at you. I'd like to show that side of you to the girls in your class."

Satoshi's eyes widened. He leveled his eyes to his sister pleadingly. "Please, spare me," he asked weakly.

Ritsu ignored his request. "Oh, right..." she said offhandedly. Without warning, she slapped her hands against his warm cheeks like she had done to Yui the other day. The young boy screamed in protest. "Oh, so warm..." Ritsu cooed.

"Oi! Tainaka!" a voice shouted ahead of them. One of Satoshi's friends ran up to them. "Hello," he said politely. Ritsu responded in kind. "I'm going to Suzuki's house right now," he told Satoshi. "Want to come along?"

Satoshi nodded excitedly. "Yeah, I'll go!" he replied before turning back to his sister. "Can I, Nee-chan?" Ritsu smiled at him.

"Sure, don't stay too late," she replied. The two boys grinned at each other and ran off. Ritsu watched them for a moment, bits and pieces of their conversation floating back to her.

Ritsu turned back around and her smile faltered a bit. Turning to her right, Ritsu looked at her own reflection in the large window of a store. Her mind wandered to the slip of paper that she had been reading earlier. "That must..." She remembered walking home from school and finding the paper in her mailbox. There was no clue as to who had put it there. "That must have been... a love let-" Her thought cut off and a blush struck her cheeks.

At that moment, her phone vibrated in her pocket, indicating a new message.

Elsewhere, Mio's phone signaled the new message as well.

Mugi, who had taken up a part-time job at a nearby restaurant, cried as she felt her phone vibrate, too. She had mistaken a customer's order and panicked. The manager on duty let Mugi have some time to compose herself. Mugi was surprised when she read Yui's message at the same time as Mio and Ritsu.

"_What would you rather have? A marshmallow soy milk hotpot or a chocolate curry hotpot?"_ Yui's text read.

"Huh?" Mio asked her phone stupidly.

"What's up with those hotpots?" Ritsu wondered out loud.

Mugi just laughed softly. "Weird," she mumbled.

Back in the supermarket, Yui was saddened. "Eh, no one's replying," she complained. Roy chuckled.

"They're probably busy taking care of things they had to do today," he said. "And you sending them a weird text message like that probably distracted them." Yui giggled.

"Sorry," she replied with a soft smile.

They arrived at Yui's house with all the ingredients some time later, but Roy suggested they forego the hotpot and just eat the marshmallows. "Here," he said playfully, holding up a puff for Yui. She smiled and bit down on it gratefully, stealing it straight from Roy's fingers. All three teenagers laughed.

After a while, Yui randomly checked her phone. "Oh, everyone replied!" she informed. A gasp escaped her lips as she read the messages. "Mugi-chan's working" she said, showing them the text. "That must have been what she was so nervous about. She was getting a job!"

"Yeah, I guess so," Roy said thoughtfully. "But why be so nervous about it?"

"Tsumugi-san comes from a rich family," Ui answered, "so she might have been embarrassed about it. She probably just wanted to earn some money for herself." Roy nodded in acceptance.

"Wow!" Yui said suddenly. "Mio-chan went to the beach!"

"I guess she wanted to get inspiration for her new song," Roy suggested. Yui nodded and moved to the final message from Ritsu.

"Ricchan asked, "Where are you right now?'" Yui said. "'I'm at home,'" she answered as she typed in the message.

* * *

"Welcome," Mugi said politely to the customer. Her resolve had returned after Yui's strange message and her heart was flying now. Her mind was clear and she could focus intently on her work.

"What a surprise," Yui said. "I can't believe Mugi-chan started working."

"Mugi has grown up," Ritsu replied.

"Yeah," Yui answered as she turned back to the table. "Oh, Roy-kun!" she said happily as the boy walked up behind Ui. He waved jovially at the group.

"Yo," he said simply as he sat down. Ui had graciously moved over, allowing him to sit next to Yui.

"Mio-chan, welcome back," Yui said brightly as the bassist approached. Ritsu turned to her friend.

"Oh, did you come up with a good so-?" she asked, but stopped at the look on Mio's face. "Guess not."

"But that's so cool," Yui said. "You went to the winter beach by yourself." She turned back to look at Roy. "Roy-kun, let's go to the winter beach some time!"

The boy blushed and laughed. "Sure," he said, "but we'll have to wait until after Christmas." Yui looked confused.

"Why?" she asked sadly.

Roy's smile faltered. "My family is traveling back to America for the week of Christmas to visit with family," he said sadly. Yui promptly glomped onto his arm as if the appendage could hold him there forever.

"No!" she said forcefully. "I don't want Roy-kun to go!"

Roy blushed, but kept his eyes locked with Yui's. "Okay," he said with a gentle smile. "I'll ask my parents if they can work out anything." Yui squealed happily and tightened her grip on his arm.

Ritsu felt distinctly uncomfortable with the current scene. Her current thoughts were running wild. "Hey-?"

"Ritsu," Mio interrupted her. "What did you think of the lyrics I put in your mailbox?"

"Huh?" she questioned stupidly. "Lyrics?"

Mio smiled. "Yeah, I thought I'd type them up on my computer, but..." Her sentence trailed off as she smiled at her friend.

Ritsu, for her part, looked incredulous. "Then, that was... you?" she asked weakly.

Mio looked confused. "Yup," she said.

Ritsu turned to look at Roy. She suddenly looked away, blushing furiously. Roy quirked an eyebrow, but caught on to what Ritsu had been going through lately.

"Ritsu?" he asked carefully, still attempting to pry his arm from Yui's iron-lock grip. "Did you think those lyrics were a love letter from me?"

"EH?" everyone screamed at the same time. Ritsu looked even more embarrassed now.

"Y-yes," she said in a defeated voice. Roy laughed.

"You're a nice person, Ricchan," he said gently, "but I have Yui-chan!" Yui's grip on his arm tightened again and he grimaced. "Ah, Yui-chan!" He looked down at the girl desperately. "My arm! Circulation cut off! Too tight!" he whimpered desperately.

Yui released the boy's arm with a sheepish grin. "Ah, sorry, sorry," she said softly. Roy laughed.

"It's fine," he replied.

In the meantime, Ritsu was attempting to choke Mio to death.

"So you were the one who wrote that!" she screamed.

"I that I told you I'd put them in your mailbox!" Mio called desperately.

"Don't do such old-fashioned things!"

* * *

A/N: And that's all for this. One more chapter of the winter arc to go (maybe). Yes, I skipped one of the scenes... the scene with Mugi's warm hands seemed like it didn't fit with the ending I had set up there, so I ignored it... and it's mostly yuri fan service anyway.

So, yeah, here's the new chapter. Written in only two sittings, which is good for me. It's a little under my average for the story, but it's not too bad. Hope you enjoy!

Translations:

"Gitwo" - (the name Yui gives to the Dean Soltero Standard that she receives from Roy's father; yeah, it sounds dumb, but then again, it's Yui)

Bukuro-chan - (Yui names her glove this, similar to how she names her guitar "Gitah," since the Japanese word for "glove" is "tebukuro," she came up with "Bukuro-chan" ... Yeah, like I said, it's Yui)

**Septemeber 21, 2010:** Fixed the Japanese. Also fixed Satoshi's name since I had him named "Sora" before.


	10. Permanent Vacation

Hey. ...

Yeah, kind of out of it right now. I just had to postpone my Naruto fic because of severe writer's block. Not very happy about that, but I realized I'm not into writing an epic length fic, and I was kind of disappointed by the way the story came out. Yeah, rambling over...

So yeah, new chapter! I found out recently that an OVA has been announced for the K-On! anime. Yay! I was also watching anime on Kumby when I noticed they a link for "K-On! Episode 15 RAW." That kind of surprised me since you normally need an episode 14 before you can have 15 (Of course, that didn't stop OneManga from leaving chapter 27 out for like 3 weeks.) But, yeah, the OVA was announced to be released in January, I believe. And the music singles for the remaining K-On! cast should be out within the next month or so, I think. Don't quote me on that, though.

More rambling... I'd better get to the disclaimer soon.

Disclaimer: Don't own K-On! Yeah, I don't have anything else to say there.

* * *

"Yes!" Mio cried as she stretched back in her chair. "Winter vacation!" She sighed happily as Mugi set a piece of cake in front of her.

The end of term ceremony had been boring as usual, but it provided the teenagers with something they greatly needed: two weeks of vacation time. The only good thing about having to go back to school after the vacation was that they would all be third year students. The downside of that, however, was they would only have one more year together before heading off to college.

"Let's have a Christmas party this year, too!" Ritsu suggested quickly.

"Great!" Yui responded immediately. "Let's do it! Let's do it!"

Mio looked up at the guitarist for a moment. "But wouldn't we be bothering your parents?" she asked.

Yui waved her off. "It's fine," she explained. "My parents will be out of town on Christmas Eve." She looked happy, and Mio worried about that.

"Your parents will be gone on Christmas?" Mio asked incredulously, to which Yui nodded. "Yui, that's not right! Your family should be together on Christmas!"

Yui shook her head with a brilliant smile. "It's fine!" she said persistently. "It's been like this for a few years!" Yui shot a glance at Roy across the room. "Besides, Roy-kun will be staying at my house while his parents are in America!"

Hirasawa Yui was never a very bright girl. Sure, she was smart enough to make good grades if she truly applied herself to her work. But she generally lacked common sense; Roy normally helped with most things nowadays. But even Yui could tell immediately that she had said something she probably shouldn't have.

Roy blushed furiously. Ritsu's teacup, which she had been about to drink from, lie shattered on the floor. Mio's face paled visibly and she turned her head quickly to stare at Roy with her mouth agape. Mugi's eyes were wide, staring at the boy as well, but she showed no other reaction to the news.

Yui immediately blushed as well.

"He's staying _in your house_?" Mio asked loudly. "With your parents _gone_?"

Yui nodded. "I trust Roy-kun!" she said quickly. Mio flinched a little, but Roy smiled warmly at his girlfriend.

"I think it's a great idea!" a voice called from the doorway.

"Melissa-san!" Mio cried. Roy's mother smiled brightly in the doorway of the club room.

"Mom?" Roy said after a few seconds. "Not that I'm not happy to see you, but why exactly are you here?" His mother laughed.

"Well, I'm here to make sure everything is in order for you staying with Yui-chan for the week," she answered. "We'll be gone until New Year's Day, so I wanted to make sure you'll be fine for the week." She smiled warmly at her son as he stood up.

"I'll be fine, Mom," he said. He smiled back at her and walked over to Yui's side. He draped an arm around her shoulder and held her loosely. "Yui-chan didn't want me to go away, and I don't want to see her unhappy on Christmas." He smiled down at the girl in his arms and she smiled back at him, happy tears beginning to well up in her eyes.

Melissa smiled. _'He's growing up right before our eyes, Ryan,'_ she thought. _'When on earth did it happen? When did my little boy become so mature?'_ "Okay, then," she said softly. She walked over and handed him a key. "There's the key to the house; it'll be locked by the time you get home." She smiled sadly and kissed her son's forehead. "Be safe."

"Of course, Mom," he said. "Thanks."

Melissa smiled at all of them one last time and left. Mugi clapped lightly and everyone laughed.

Yui couldn't be happier.

* * *

_That evening..._

"Welcome!" Yui cried as they walked through the door. Roy walked in after her. He had been here before... several times, in fact, but he had never felt as nervous as he did now. He knew he would be sleeping here... with Yui... with no adults... and only them and Ui in the house.

'_Calm down, Roy!'_ he cried mentally. _'Everything will be fine. Maybe I should ask her about playing something on my guitar. That should calm my nerves a bit.'_ He resolved to ask about it after dinner since it was already 4:30 and Ui had told them dinner would be ready around 5:30.

He looked around the living room curiously. Nothing had changed from the time he had come over here to help Yui study for the exams. Yui sat down on the couch and shrunk down into the cushion. She sighed comfortably and Roy sat down next to her. He sighed and shrunk down with her. He grasped her hand and closed his eyes happily. Just sitting there like that what was made dating Yui so great. The quiet moments.

Needless to say being with Yui had very few quiet moments.

Roy relished the time he spent just sitting around with his girlfriend. Just sitting around quietly or snuggling together happily... Those moments filled his life with joy. Sure, he'd been happy before meeting Yui, but he hadn't actually been joyful for very much. He loved his family, but he didn't have any friends in Japan before the Keion club. He'd said before that Yui was his "angel."

Hirasawa Yui was his joy.

And he would tell her that on Christmas Eve.

He'd had this planned for some time. His family planning on traveling to America had been a problem, but things were worked out now.

"Ready!" Ui called from the kitchen.

Roy opened his eyes and glanced at the clock. Time had passed quickly while Roy was thinking. It was already 5:30. He moved to wake Yui, but stopped when he saw her face. Her mouth was hanging open a bit in her sleep, and Roy thought she looked even cuter than normal. He carefully removed his arm from hers and walked quietly into the kitchen.

Ui had grilled some chicken in teriyaki sauce and served it over rice. There was a traditional soup with different ingredients along with it. Roy eyed the food hungrily. "This is great, Ui-chan," he said brightly. "You're a great cook, I can tell just by looking at the food." Ui blushed.

"Thank you, Roy-kun," she replied. "But, where is Onee-chan?"

"She was still sleeping," Roy answered. "She looked so peaceful that I didn't want to disturb her." Ui smiled.

"That sounds like her," she said.

"Yeah. Itadakimasu."

They ate quietly. The chicken was very good, as Roy had predicted. Yui walked into the room about five minutes after they had begun. "Morning, sleepy-head," Roy teased. She just smiled at him and sat down.

"Mornin'," she said sleepily. Ui quickly loaded a plate with food and passed it the sleepy girl. "Thank you, Ui." The younger sibling just smiled brightly at her and went back to her food.

"Umm," Roy said once they had finished eating, "where will I be sleeping?"

"I have a futon I can pull out in my room," Yui replied. Roy paled.

"You mean like sleeping in the same room as you?" he asked slowly. Yui nodded brightly.

Roy quickly got up and ran out of the room, calling back something about the restroom and clenching a nosebleed.

"What's wrong with Roy-kun?" Yui asked strangely. Ui shook her head and went back to washing the dishes.

* * *

_Christmas Eve..._

"Welcome!" Yui greeted warmly.

"Please pardon our intrusion!" four voices called from the doorway. Mugi, Mio, Ritsu, and (to Roy's displeasure) Sawako had arrived at the same time. They entered calmly into the main living area where Roy greeted them warmly as well.

"Merry Christmas," he said happily. Everyone returned the greeting in kind.

"Dinner will be ready in just a moment," Ui called from the kitchen.

"Heh heh," Ritsu laughed, "it's cool to be having a sleepover together."

"Yeah," Yui responded, but a dark laugh resounded through the room. Everyone's eyes fell to Sawako, who was wiping some drool from her mouth and gazing a little too intently at Roy. The boy gulped audibly.

"Nobody is gonna be able to sleep tonight," she said darkly.

Her body was quickly thrown to the floor when Ritsu bashed the teacher on the head. "Could you show a little discretion, please?" she asked wearily.

Ui brought a pot and set it down on a table in the room. Everyone gathered around the pot. "Wow," Mio said.

"This year, we're having hotpot!" Yui called excitedly. Roy eyed the pot warily.

"It's not marshmallow banana or something like that is it, Ui-chan?" he asked strangely. The girl just smiled.

"No, of course not, Roy-kun," she answered.

"It-" Ritsu stuttered. "It looks delicious."

"Sorry for making you do all sorts of things for us every year," Mio said to Ui.

"Oh, not at all," the younger girl replied. She smiled at her sister's content face and said, "Just being able to see that expression on her face is enough to make me happy."

At that time, Roy sat down next to Yui and plucked a piece of beef from her soup. "Oi!" she cried. A fake pout crossed her features, but Roy ignored her with a huge grin plastered across his face. Yui laughed after a moment; it was too hard to resist laughing at the boy's face.

"~Oh, Roy-kun~!" a voice called behind him. Suddenly two incredibly unfamiliar arms wrapped around Roy's torso and dragged him up to eye level. Sawako's eyes gazed hungrily into his and his previous fear of teacher nearly tripled in that split second. "Today I brought something nice," she cooed evilly as she began pulling his shirt up.

Roy nearly peed himself.

After a light scuffle in which no one really paid attention (there was food, come on...) Roy emerged with a foreign object on his head. He heard faint sounds of laughter from behind him. All of the girls were either giggling or pointing at whatever was on his head and making weird faces. After a quick decision, Roy turned to find a mirror. What he saw made him fear Sawako worse than before.

On top of his were a set of tiger ears, bright orange to match his hair.

"Ta-da!" Sawako called. "Cosplay of the next year, the year of the tiger!"

"Next year is the year of the ox!" Roy screamed at the perverted teacher.

The teacher ignored his cry and grabbed a piece of cloth on a clothes hanger; Roy figured the piece of clothing was large enough to use as a washcloth. "Here, put this on~," Sawako demanded hungrily.

All of the girls blushed; Yui had to stop a nosebleed.

Roy quickly pushed the teacher away, monetarily forgetting the tiger ears on top of his head. "Ero-sensei!" he cried. "You've been drinking too much!"

Sawako stared at him evenly. "I've only been drinking juice, same as everybody," she replied simply.

"You mean you're like this when you're sober?" Roy cried.

Things settled down and everyone ate peacefully after that. Roy decided to keep the tiger ears on since Yui thought they were cute.

"Ohh, that was really good!" Ritsu sighed happily. Mio turned to look at Roy.

"Have you heard from your parents yet?" she asked.

"Yeah, they called last night when they got in from the plane flight," he answered brightly. "And they called today to wish me a Merry Christmas, and Dad said to wish the same to all of you..." He paused momentarily to smile at Sawako. "'Even the ero-sensei,' he said." Everyone smiled.

Ritsu randomly looked up at a clock hanging on the opposite wall. "Eh?" she said. "It's almost midnight already?" Everyone else craned their necks to look at the clock, too.

"I suppose we'd better start heading off to bed," Sawako said. For once, she looked sincere; the food had made everyone rather sleepy.

Roy glanced over at his girlfriend. The girl was practically asleep as it was. _'I'll tell her in the morning,'_ he thought tiredly.

After pulling his futon out from Yui's room into one of the spare bedrooms, Roy laid down and fell asleep almost instantly.

He had a rather strange dream about a tiger trying to rip his clothes off. After a few seconds, he heard the tiger giggling and it suddenly turned into Yui. He realized the tiger ears were on his head again and he woke up with a start.

Pulling the fake ears off of his head, Roy mumbled, "What was I thinking? Eating Yui's chocolate-soy milk-curry hotpot right before bed..." His stomach rumbled in agreement with his thoughts as he rolled over and fell asleep again.

* * *

It seemed like only seconds had passed before he awoke with a start once again to find Yui spread eagle on top of him. Apparently the girl had dove onto the futon with him. His chest hurt a little from where the girl had just landed, but it was better than other places that could have been hit.

He kissed the girl's forehead before pulling the both of them from the tangles of the bed sheets. They walked out into the main room again to find everyone already awake. Ui was making coffee for everyone and Mugi was handing out some doughnuts she had brought the previous night. Roy took a doughnut gratefully and sat down on the couch. Yui sat down in his lap softly.

He happened to glance upward randomly at some point (no one else was watching them) and noticed something dangling above their heads. Having finished his "breakfast," Roy leaned forward and whispered in Yui's ear, "Yui-chan... look up."

The girl looked straight up and found a ball of mistletoe hanging above them. She blushed and looked back down at her boyfriend. Without hesitation, she shifted her weight to the side and kissed him fully on the lips.

They didn't extend the kiss for long, but Ritsu apparently noticed anyway. She was wolf-whistling at the couple, and Mio was blushing. Sawako laughed along with Ritsu and Mugi.

Roy smiled sheepishly and pecked Yui one last time on the cheek for good measure. "I've got an idea," he said suddenly. "Let's go watch the Christmas morning sunrise!"

Everyone agreed, and they shouldered thick jackets to protect the bitter morning chill. Once they had filed up outside, they noticed a ray of brilliant orange peeking out from above the house in front of them. The sun rose magnificently, the bright oranges and reds complimenting Roy's hair almost perfectly.

Roy encircled an arm around Yui's shoulders and hugged her warmly. He looked down at the girl with a smile. "Yui," he whispered softly, getting the girl to look up, "I have something to tell you." Yui looked at him curiously, but didn't respond. He smiled again, never removing his eyes from hers. "I-" The words caught in his throat menacingly.

He swallowed deliberately and continued, "I've never said this to anyone else before." Yui was thoroughly confused now. "Yui, I love you." Yui gazed up at Roy with a blank face.

"I love you, too," she said simply with a straight face. "But what was it you wanted to say?"

Roy stared at her again. "Eh?" he mumbled. "That's what I wanted to say," he explained. "I wanted you to know that I love you." Yui finally smiled.

"Oh," she finally said brightly. "I knew that you loved me all along. There was no reason to say anything." Roy nearly face-faulted right there. "I think I might have been in love with you long before the training camp." Roy's eyes widened.

"Yeah, during that first term," he said softly, "when I was always helping you to learn guitar techniques." Yui nodded.

"Yeah, and you're a really funny person," she continued. "And you're really nice, and cute, and smart, and good at playing guitar." She ticked off each explanation on her fingers. Roy laughed.

"Well, I still say you're beyond beautiful," he said quietly. Yui blushed.

"Hey!" Sawako called suddenly. "What are you two whispering about?"

"Nothing!" Yui replied quickly. "Roy just told me he loves me." Everyone stared at the couple with their mouths hanging open.

"And what did you say to him?" Mio asked numbly.

"Oh, I told him that I already knew that," she replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "And I told him that I love him, too." Everyone stared at Yui now. "Uhh, surprise?" Everyone nodded their heads slowly.

"Merry Christmas!" Roy said suddenly.

* * *

_New Years Day..._

"So what did you and Yui do all week while we were gone?" Melissa asked her son once they had returned home.

"Nothing much, really," he answered blandly. "We played guitar a bit, talked, ate Ui-chan's cooking. I taught her how to play some new songs. We didn't really do anything that exciting." Roy scratched his chin absently for a moment. "We did have a bit of a shock Christmas morning, though."

"Oh?" Ryan asked as he entered the room. Roy nodded.

"Yeah," Roy replied flatly. "We decided to go outside to watch the morning sunrise, and I got the idea to tell Yui that I loved her while we were out there."

The plate in his mother's hand dropped. The soda that his father had been drinking from spilled all over the man's shirt.

Roy smirked.

"Well, what did she say?" Melissa asked impatiently. Roy laughed.

"She told me she loves me, too," he said nonchalantly. "She said it was no big deal; she had known for a while, apparently." Both parents stared at the boy dumbfounded.

"That girl's smarter than she lets on," Ryan said proudly after a few seconds. Roy smiled.

"It seems like she's the smartest person in the world when someone else is thinking on the same wavelength as her," Roy explained. "It doesn't happen often, but I'm astounded by her when it does."

"I knew she was a bright girl," Melissa said brightly.

"Yep," Roy said shortly. "So how was everyone back in California?"

"Grandpa Lewis is getting worse," Melissa replied. "He's going downhill fast. I hate to say it, but we might have to travel back a funeral during the term this year." Roy grimaced.

"I wish he could get better," Roy muttered. "He's been sick for a long time now."

"Yeah, but the doctors say there's nothing they can do really," Ryan said sadly. "He's just at that age where more work would only make things worse." Roy frowned. "On the bright side, Aunt Catherine had her baby a few months ago."

"You should have been there, Roy," Melissa said. "Baby Albert was so adorable. Strange, he had orange hair just about like you. I guess you get it from my side of the family then."

Ryan laughed. "Yeah, the boy looked just like you did when you were born." He clapped a hand against his son's back. "You're an uncle now, boy," he told him. "He may not know who you are, but you're that boy's uncle."

Roy smiled proudly. "We'll have to take a vacation to America this summer." Roy's eyes brightened. "What if I asked Yui to come with us to America?" Melissa watched her son's face carefully.

"I think that would be fine," she said. "She knows a little English, right?"

Roy groaned softly. "She knows a little bit," he replied. "It'd be enough to get by if one of us is there to translate if she really needs it." Melissa nodded.

"That should be fine, then," Ryan agreed. "Although we'd have to talk to her parents about it, I doubt there would be any problems."

Roy smiled. He was looking forward to the summer already.

* * *

A/N: Hmm, I rather like how this turned out. I had to rewrite part of the last scene. I didn't like what I had there. I had planned on introducing a female OC from Roy's hometown that would be infatuated with him, but it didn't flow well with what I had going. Well, tell me what you think. I love the Roy-Yui pairing so far. Torturing Roy is so much fun. I really should be nicer to my OCs, though...

**September 21, 2010:** Fixed some stuff, made some edits that help the wording flow better. You know, general "making stuff better" stuff. Oh, I decided to keep "Itadakimasu" since there's really no good way to translate and it seemed weird without it. For those who don't know, it's just a general saying before eating a meal. It basically means "Thank you for the food."


	11. Movin' Out

Good news. Good news on several fronts, actually. First of all, _Guitar Hero Van_ Halen has been announced for this December. The set list can be found online (don't ask me where, I just found it on Facebook actually.) Comma-chan and I are very excited since we are both addicted to _Guitar Hero_ (and she is just excited about the idea of more Van Halen in _Guitar Hero_ in general.)

Secondly, K-On! Chapter 36 went up on OneManga today. It's a funny chapter, and will very interesting when I get up to writing that point. Also, in the time it took me to finish this chapter, K-On! 37 went up. It's kinda funny, but kinda disturbing at the same time.

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to K-On! Yeah, no witty remarks here.

* * *

"Yui-chan! Ricchan!"

"Ah, Roy-Kun! Good morning!" Yui called back to the boy.

"Morning!" Ritsu called as well. "Full of energy this morning, Roy-kun?"

Roy just smiled as they walked forward. "Of course, I'm excited about getting back to practice," he answered. He absently shifted the weight of the guitar case on his back and continued on.

"Me too!" Yui said excitedly. "I can't wait-"

"To practice!" Roy suggested.

"...to eat Mugi-chan's snacks!" Yui corrected. Roy sent the girl a playful glare, but she just stuck her tongue out at him. All three of them laughed as they entered the club room.

After everyone had arrived and settled into eating snacks, Roy had an idea. It would be a good way to start of the new term. "Let's decide on a goal we want to reach this year," he said thoughtfully.

Yui answered immediately, "I want to be able to snap my fingers!" Roy face-palmed.

"I meant for the club, Yui-chan," he explained softly. Yui laughed sheepishly.

"Sorry," she said cutely. "Then... I want to learn to read sheet music." Roy quirked an eyebrow.

"That's not a bad idea, Yui," he admitted, "but sheet music is kinda difficult for guitars." Mio nodded in agreement.

"Let's do a big debut!" Ritsu suggested loudly.

"That's pretty big thinking, Ricchan," Roy replied, "although not really a bad idea either." Roy clasped his hands together in thought. "We have a pretty good list of songs that we've performed and some that we haven't done live yet, right?" he asked Mio after a moment. The bassist nodded with a confused expression.

"Okay," she replied, "but what do you want to do?" Roy grinned at them all.

"I can get my dad to mix the songs onto a CD," Roy explained happily. "It would be like our band releasing its first album!" Ritsu brightened up.

"That sounds cool!" she agreed. "What songs should we put on it, though?"

Roy sat quietly for a moment. "Well," Mio began, "we should obviously put in our more popular live songs. 'Fuwa Fuwa Time' and 'Fudepen' would be good choices." Mio stared at Roy for a just a moment. "I wonder if we could do some cover songs of Aerosmith songs, though."

((A/N: "Fudepen" is the song the band plays in the anime, episode 12, while Yui is running to retrieve Gitah from her house.))

Roy looked on in interest. "Sounds interesting," he said, "but if we planned on releasing the album for profit, it'd be illegal."

"Then we don't sell them for profit," Ritsu answered. "Simple as that."

"Alright," Mio nodded. "We can just hand them out at our live concerts to promote the band. We don't really have to make any money from it."

Mugi nodded as well. "Yes, we will need some new members to join the club," she explained. "We only have another year before we all graduate and then the club will be empty again."

Roy frowned. "Well, I'm sure Ui-chan would try to keep the club going. And I'm sure we can get some of the new students if we do a concert like we did last year." Yui nodded.

"Yeah, we got Roy-kun because of the concert!" she cried as she hugged Roy's neck. They both laughed and the others joined them. Everyone settled down after a few moments.

"Alright, so we'll look into making an album," Mio said professionally. "Any other ideas?"

"Are there any live performances we can do in the area?" Roy asked. "I've heard of some high school band competitions."

"Yeah," Ritsu said, "I've seen some of those on TV recently." She glanced over at Mio. "But it looks like Mio's gonna say 'no way' again." It seemed as though the bassist didn't hear her friend at all.

Ritsu drew a playful look onto her face and tried to sneak up behind Mio while she wasn't paying attention, but the brunette girl just turned around and bopped Ritsu on the head without a thought. "I can hear you!" she cried.

She laughed sheepishly at the rest of the band. "I'd really rather avoid performing in front of so many people," she explained.

Roy looked at Mio awkwardly. "But you're really a great bass player," Roy said. "My dad's been playing bass guitar for nearly thirty years, and he says you're excellent, especially for your age." Mio blushed at the praise.

Mugi stared at the bassist for a moment. "Mio-chan, you don't want to do a live performance because you are embarrassed to appear in front of the public?" she asked.

Mio nodded. "Yeah, that's basically right," the shy girl replied.

"In that case, let's have a special training session!" Mugi suggested suddenly. "I have a great idea!"

"Great!" Ritsu replied. "Let's do it then!"

Roy watched on curiously. _'What could her plan be?'_ he asked. _'Knowing Mugi-chan, it could be anything.'

* * *

_

Roy sighed as he scrubbed down another tea dish. At least he was in the back of the small restaurant instead of out front wearing the maid outfit. Yui had attempted to convince him to wear it, but he firmly said no. That was something he would have expected from Ero-sensei, but not from Yui.

'_She must be corrupting my girlfriend,'_ Roy thought tiredly.

Oh sure, working at the restaurant wasn't so bad; they got paid for their services and they were helping Mio be more comfortable around people. Although it seemed like that part of the plan (the whole idea behind coming here) wasn't working that well. Roy sighed again. That girl just wasn't meant to work in the public eye for anything.

"Would you like a break, Roy-san?" Mugi's butler asked.

"I'm fine, Hideki-san," Roy replied lightly. "Thank you."

Hideki nodded. "Of course." He left quietly.

Roy turned back to his work, only to have a familiar pair of arms wrap around his waist. "Hey, Yui-chan," he said calmly.

"Why didn't you want to take a break?" she asked in a mock hurt voice. "I wanted to cuddle with you for a few minutes."

Roy laughed, but didn't turn to face her. "I know, you just wanted to get me into that maid outfit," he said knowingly. Yui gasped. "I can read you like a book, Yui-chan."

She just laughed. "Yep." Both of them fell silent and Yui set her head softly against Roy's back. "You make a good pillow," she said quietly. Roy just smiled.

"How's Mio-chan doing?" Roy asked.

"She's doing better," Yui answered. "She was glad when Hideki-san told us we could take a break. She was so worn out emotionally, she almost fainted."

"I think she'll be fine once you all get back out there," Roy said encouragingly. He turned around swiftly and kissed Yui lightly on her lips. "I gotta get back to work, Yui," he said softly. She just smiled.

"Yeah, so do I," she replied. She moved towards the door before saying, "Let's meet up for something to eat after this, okay?" Roy nodded.

"Sure. Later!" Roy said as she left.

"Later!" she called back.

Roy went back to his work with a bright smile. He had something to look forward to now. It wouldn't be much, but any time he could spend alone with Yui was something he treasured.

* * *

Unfortunately for Roy, his 'treasure' was now being shared with three other people. When Yui had invited him to get some food, she'd failed to mention the others coming along with them. Roy sat in an angry huff for a while before resigning himself to fate and joining the conversation. They were talking about what songs they wanted to include on the band's album.

"We should definitely include 'Fuwa Fuwa Time,'" Mio suggested. "Like I said before, it's our biggest song in the school so far. I'd say 'Fudepen ~Ballpen~' would be a good choice, too. And maybe 'Watashi no Koi wa Hotch-Kiss,' too."

Roy nodded. "Yeah, but we have a problem if we want to include any cover songs," he said. "I asked my dad about it earlier. He said that we would need to get a license to use the song even if it's not for profit. If we didn't, the record company for the band could sue us."

Mugi responded, "That shouldn't be a problem. My dad has a lawyer that could get us the licenses for the songs."

Roy looked surprised. "Okay," he said, "and my dad can probably work with some guys he knows in record companies, too. He and mom have worked with a lot of record companies in the past."

"That sounds good," Mio said. "So what songs should we look at doing? I'm sure Roy-kun would like to have some Aerosmith songs on the album." She grinned at him and he smiled back.

"Yeah," he said, "I was thinking of just picking a few songs, though. Just some of the more popular songs." He clasped his hands together in thought. "We could probably do some other songs. Maybe 'Poison Whiskey' By Lynyrd Skynyrd and 'Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll' by Blue Öyster Cult."

Mio nodded, but everyone else looked confused. "I've never heard of those songs," Ritsu said. Roy looked at her.

"I'm not really surprised," he said. "The songs came out quite a few years ago. 'Poison Whiskey' was one of Lynyrd Skynyrd's best songs ever, in my opinion." He paused for a moment. "I think there are a few other songs we could do... some from Japanese bands." He looked at Mio. "I happen to know a few songs that you could probably sing."

"Me?" she asked incredulously. Roy just nodded his head.

"Yeah, your voice would work better for the songs than Yui's," he explained. "Yui's voice is more for the light-hearted songs that you write. She's not really meant for anything more upbeat than that. And besides, you know how she is with singing and playing guitar at the same time."

Mio sighed and nodded. "Fine," she agreed miserably. "I assume you'll be doing vocals for the other songs, then?" she asked, looking back at Roy.

"Yep, I can cover singing on the rest of the songs." He motioned to Yui. "Yui-chan should probably sing one or two of the band's songs so that she's included in the album, too."

Yui clapped her hands happily. "Yahoo! I get included!" she cried happily. Roy just laughed.

"It will probably take some time to get the licenses for the songs," Roy said after a moment. "We should wait until then before we record anything. But we can still practice the songs. And we'll probably need to; I doubt you all know all of the songs."

Mio nodded. "Yeah, I don't know how to play many of Aerosmith's songs, and I don't really know either of those other songs you mentioned." She thought for a moment. "Hey, do you think we could convince your mom to sing a song for the album?"

Roy smiled. "That's a great idea!" he said. "I'll ask her tonight when I ask dad about the record companies."

"Cool," Ritsu said. "Should we work on a final list of the songs we want?"

Roy nodded. "Yeah, I'll write them down," he said, "and bring them to the club room tomorrow." Ritsu pumped her fist in the air excitedly.

"Yosh!" she cried. Everyone laughed happily as they finished their meal.

* * *

Roy smiled as he walked into the club room the next day. His mother had agreed to sing for the band's album. In fact, she even picked out a song that she wanted to sing. She had picked "Simple and Clean" by Utada Hikaru. Roy didn't know the song directly, but he knew that Utada Hikaru did a lot of work in video game music.

He looked down at the paper in his hand. He'd worked for about two hours last night to find good songs for the band to do. He was happy with the final list.

Yui and Ritsu looked up and greeted him happily as he walked into the music room. Mugi was busy making tea. "Morning!" Roy said brightly. "I got the list finished. Want to see?"

"Sure!" they all said. He showed them the list.

- Fuwa Fuwa Time (vocals by Hirasawa Yui)

-Fudepen ~Ballpen~ (vocals by Akiyama Mio)

-Watashi no Koi wa Hotch-Kiss (vocals by Akiyama Mio)

-Walk This Way - Aerosmith cover (vocals by Roy Page)

-Dream On - Aerosmith cover (vocals by Roy Page)

-I Don't Want to Miss a Thing - Aerosmith cover (vocals by Roy Page)

-Poison Whiskey - Lynyrd Skynyrd cover (vocals by Roy Page)

-Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll - Blue Oyster Cult cover (vocals by Roy Page)

-Trust - Salia cover (from Vandread anime) (vocals by Akiyama Mio)

-Justice - Aki Kudou cover (from Vandread anime) (vocals by Akiyama Mio)

-The World - Nightmare cover (from Death Note anime) (vocals by Roy Page)

-Simple and Clean - Utada Hikaru cover (from Kingdom Hearts) (vocals by Melissa Page)

"It looks good, Roy-kun," Mugi said. "Very nice."

"Thanks," he replied. "I just hope we can get all the licenses for the songs. My mom specifically requested that song."

"I will make sure we get everything we need," Mugi said confidently.

"Thanks," Roy said again.

Yui looked up at him. "I don't know hardly any of these songs," she said sadly.

"It's okay, Yui-chan," he said. "I'll bring the songs in next week for you all to listen to and then we can start practicing." Yui smiled and hugged him around his chest.

* * *

_Later that day..._

"You did a good job yesterday, Mio-chan," Roy told the girl as they walked from their class to the club room.

"Yeah," she replied wearily. "I'm still a little tired, though."

Roy laughed a little. "Well, work isn't supposed to be easy," he said. Mio laughed, too.

"Hello!" they called as they walked into the club room. Yui, Mugi, and Ritsu responded in kind.

Roy stopped as he walked in, though. "Huh?" he mumbled. "Where's Sawa-ero-sensei?"

"She said she wouldn't be coming this afternoon," Ritsu answered. "She told me after class ended. She seemed kinda put out about it, too." Roy laughed.

"Oh well," he said offhandedly. "Ricchan, you wanna see the song list I finished for the album?" Mio nodded and he handed her the list.

"This looks good," she said. "Can you bring in the songs for us?"

"Sure, I'll bring them in next week," he replied.

"I didn't think you for one to be watching anime, though," Ritsu said teasingly.

"I don't, actually," Roy replied flatly. "I had a friend back in California that watched some anime. He showed me some, but I never really got into it. I liked some of the songs for the shows, though." Ritsu nodded.

Yui pointed to one of the songs on the list. "'Trust,'" she said, "I heard that one on the radio the other day." She smiled. "It was a good song. I liked it." Roy laughed.

"Yeah, that's why I chose it," he explained. "It's a pretty good song even if it doesn't really have much of a guitar solo." Everyone laughed. Realization crossed Roy's face for a moment. "Actually," he said as he dug into his pocket, "I have some of the songs on me right now." He finally dug something out of his pocket. It was a light blue iPod. "Yeah, I should have a few of the songs here."

He quickly scrolled through the songs on the device and stopped at one. "Yeah, I have all three of the Aerosmith songs I picked," he said. He scrolled down further. "Let's see... yeah, there's 'Poison Whiskey' and 'Cities on Flame.'"

"Cool, let's hear 'em," Ritsu said. Roy nodded and pressed the play button on one of the songs.

And practice began.

* * *

A/N: Alright. The ending was kinda random and filler-ish, but I needed a bit more length on the chapter. In case you couldn't tell, Roy's starting to take more of a leadership role in the club. Honestly, who makes the drummer the leader of the band? Really...

September 27, 2009: Fixed the Japanese and fixed the ending. For some reason, what I had on file had the ending cut off. Oh well, whatever.

**September 21, 2010:** Fixed some stuff. The album list here definitely isn't final. It changed since that list, for those who are wondering.


	12. Draw the Line

Twelfth chapter coming up!

I really got nothing else to say. Thanks for Comma for betareading as usual. Thanks to Dante the Demon Hunter and Aikuchi Shikaku for being faithful to the story. I appreciate anyone I can get to read this thing.

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to K-On! Trust me, if I did, the timeline wouldn't be so messed up there.

* * *

It seemed like a normal day in the Light Music club. Roy and Yui were in the corner talking excitedly about something or another (Yui holding a half-empty teacup). Ritsu was idly tapping her drumsticks against her bag as she sat on the floor. Mugi was watching a brewing pot of tea. Mio was sitting at the main table in the club when the day became... not so normal.

Mio felt a cold shiver run up her spine and he turned her head as quickly as possible to the doorway. The doors were closed, but Mio could have sworn she'd seen someone duck out of the tiny window just as she turned around. Mio got up quickly and marched quietly to the door, pulling it open quickly.

There was no one there.

Mio returned to her seat, ignoring the confused look from Ritsu.

"Mio-chan," Mugi said, making the bassist jump a little, "why are you so restless?"

Mio glanced at the door again. Roy and Yui had walked over. "Lately, I've been feeling like someone is watching me," she explained.

"You're just paranoid," Roy scoffed.

"Mio-chan, everybody is looking at you because you're so cute!" Yui exclaimed. Mio blushed.

"No, it's like that," Mio stammered. "It's like someone is spying on me." Mugi smiled brightly and Yui stared at Mio for a moment. The bassist turned away frightfully and said, "Don't look at me!" Roy quirked an eyebrow.

"This is really messing you up, huh?" he asked concernedly.

Mio nodded. "I've been feeling it since this morning, too," she continued. "But every time I turn around and look, there's no one there."

Ritsu had joined the group at the table by that time. "Mmm hmmm," she mumbled. "You're being overly self-conscious, aren't you?" she asked accusingly.

"It's real, I'm telling you!" Mio shot back. Another shiver ran up her spine; Roy felt this one as well and looked behind the girl to find a pair of glowing eyes looming in the shadows. "Even, now I can feel someone's..." Her voice faltered.

"Oh, you're right," Ritsu said suddenly. Mio yelped.

"Mio, behind you," Roy warned as the glowing eyes crept up right behind the girl. She shrieked and fell into Mugi's arms for a moment.

A figure appeared from the shadows slowly. "Yoo hoo!" Sawako said casually. Roy nearly face-palmed.

"Ero-sensei..." he muttered.

They explained the situation to Sawako quickly.

"Hmm, so you're feeling like someone is watching you, huh?" the teacher asked as she took a bite of cake. She suddenly jumped from her chair and struck what she must have assumed to be a flattering pose. "Oh well, they're ogling me all the time like there's no tomorrow," she said in a funny voice. Ritsu stared at her and sweat-dropped.

"It's okay," she said flatly, "you don't need to try to impress us."

To his horror, Sawako ignored Ritsu's words and winked at him playfully. Yui noticed this and began puffing up indignantly. Noticing a confrontation incoming, Ritsu decided to change the subject for a moment.

"Could it be that the culprit is you, Sawa-chan?" she asked quickly.

Sawako just laughed. "Nah, I have my eyes on a different prize," she said darkly with another glance at Roy. The boy gulped audibly and attempted to back away from the table. He noticed Mio sulking away from the group as well.

"Mio-chan," he said to her attention. "Why don't we head down to the student council room and explain the situation?" Mio's eyebrows rose at this. "I'm sure they could help find the person who's stalking you."

Mio nodded. "Yeah," she said with a small amount of enthusiasm. "Nodoka should be in right now, too." Roy nodded as well.

"Why don't we head down there now?" he suggested before gesturing back at the table where everyone was chatting excitedly with Sawako. "It doesn't look like those people are gonna be very reliable for this problem." Mio sighed in defeat.

"Okay, let's go then."

* * *

"Nodoka..." Mio moaned as she opened the council room door. Roy popped his head over her shoulder.

"Good afternoon, Nodoka-chan," he said blankly. "We have a bit of a problem." Nodoka quirked an eyebrow and asked them to explain. After a few minutes, Roy finished up, saying, "And Mio says she can never see who it is." Mio had kept silent for most of the explanation, putting in a few words sadly where needed.

"Some kind of stalker, perhaps?" the student council member mused. "But I just can't imagine that we have a suspicious person inside the school...." Roy sweat-dropped.

_'This is the person who grew up with Yui...?'_ he asked himself stupidly. He noticed that Mio had started sobbing when she heard Nodoka's musings. "Mio?" he asked carefully. "Why are you crying?"

Mio looked at Nodoka with grateful eyes. "I'm just so happy," she said through tears, "because your reaction was so... normal." Roy sweat-dropped again.

Suddenly, the door opened and a pretty girl walked in. "Manabe-san, are you in?" the girl asked. It was then that she noticed Mio and Roy there as well. "Oh?" she said calmly. "You have visitors?"

"What's the matter, senpai?" Nodoka asked with a small bow.

"I brought the paperwork regarding the handover," she replied. Mio leaned over to whisper to Nodoka.

"Nodoka, who is she?"

"She is the president of the student council, Sogabe Megumi-san," Nodoka answered. Megumi laughed a little.

"Former president, that is," she corrected. "Nice to meet you, Akiyama-san," she said brightly. She turned to Roy. "Nice to meet you... umm...?" her voice faded out.

Roy nearly face-vaulted. "Roy Page," he answered, shaking her hand for only a fraction of a second before she pulled it back. Roy quirked an eyebrow. _'Ooookay...?'_

"I guess the Light Music club members don't know me, after all," Megumi said suddenly. Mio blushed and Roy smiled sheepishly.

"Very sorry!" they both said quickly.

They explained the situation to Megumi now.

"A stalker?" she muttered worriedly. "This is a serious problem...." She turned to Nodoka with a professional air. "Manabe-san, after we're done, I'd like you to report this matter to the student council member responsible for public morals, okay?"

Nodoka nodded. "Understood!"

"You don't have to go this far for me," Mio complained half-heartedly.

"Oh, don't worry about it," Megumi replied. "Since a student of our school is in trouble, I want to help!" Mio smiled sheepishly.

Nodoka suddenly appeared with several cups of tea. Roy and Mio thanked her and sat down.

"This tea is not as good as what you're having in the Light Music club, though," Megumi said.

"Oh, you don't need to fuss over me so much," Mio answered. Roy didn't say anything.

"In any case," Nodoka changed the subject, "I wonder what kind of person is stalking Mio."

"Like maybe someone from her fan club?" Megumi suggested, causing Mio to sputter into her cup. Roy looked up at her.

"Mio-chan has a fan club?" he asked stupidly.

"Of course," Megumi answered coldly, as if she didn't want to speak to him any more than was necessary. Roy reeled back a little. That girl was definitely strange. She was perfectly friendly with Mio and Nodoka, but she was shunning Roy for everything she had. Roy quirked an eyebrow again.

Mio had regained her composure. "You know so much about our club!" she exclaimed. Megumi seemed to tense up at this... and Roy's noticed a split second flash of fear in her eyes.

"Come to think of it," Nodoka continued, "you even know that they are having tea parties." Roy frowned indignantly; he would have liked for her to have said something other than "tea party" since he was included in the club. It just sounded too... girlish.

Megumi faltered even more at this. "You told me that earlier," she said desperately to Nodoka, "didn't you?" The other girl just stared at her.

"What?" she said. "I did not!" Roy was beginning to piece everything together.

"I guess you didn't," Megumi mumbled. "But the Light Music club is famous for all sorts of things, right?" When no one replied to her, she attempted to beat a hasty retreat. "Well, I guess I'll be going then." She started towards the door, but Roy heard a soft 'clack!' where she had been standing.

"Megumi-san," he said as he picked up the card she had dropped. "You dropped

something." The girl froze in mid-step.

Nodoka walked over and looked at the card in Roy's hand. "'Fan Club of Akiyama Mio,'" she read slowly. "'Membership Certificate?!'" Three heads swiveled to stare at Megumi accusingly.

"I picked it up in the hallway earlier!" she cried desperately.

"Then why does it have your name on it?" Roy asked. Megumi blushed.

"So that's who's been stalking me..." Mio muttered with a dark look at Megumi.

The girl fell to the floor, weeping pitifully. "I'm so sorry!" she cried. "It was me!" Mio nearly fell over in shock. "I'm going to graduate soon, so when I realized that I won't be able to see you anymore, I just couldn't stop myself!" Roy sweat-dropped.

Mio bent over to comfort Megumi, however. "It's alright," she said softly. "Please, don't be so upset. What you just said made me happy." Roy stared at Mio for a moment, but kept his mouth shut. He knew better.

Nodoka suddenly turned around to face them, holding the fan club card in her hand. "'Membership Card #0001?'" she said incredulously. Megumi gave a sheepish grin.

"Oh..." Megumi faltered for a moment. "It's just I'm also a president of the fan club."

"What?!" Mio cried.

"Wait," Roy said quickly. "'_A_' president? As in there's more than one?"

"Umm… yes," Megumi nodded. "There are seven."

Mio fainted.

Roy sighed. "Nodoka-chan," he said. "Could you help me take her back to the club room?"

* * *

"So the student council president was the culprit, huh?" Ritsu asked surprised. Nodoka and Roy had somehow managed to walk Mio's limp body back to the club room. She had woken up almost as soon as they'd set foot in the door, which served to irritate Roy slightly ("You couldn't have woken up five minutes ago?").

"I guess, being the student council president," Sawako said to Mio in a teasing voice, "she can't just call herself a normal member, huh?" Mio gave a very mirthless laugh.

Yui turned around at that time (she had been sitting with Roy away from where Mio was) and noticed Ritsu starting to open the door. "Ricchan, where are you going?" She asked curiously. A mischievous grin was plastered on the drummer's face.

"What if I jokingly mention this while asking to boost the spending on our club?" she mused evilly. Mio quickly caught the back of the girl's uniform, however, and prevented her from leaving.

"Stop it," Mio warned with a rather defeated look. After everyone calmed down, Roy noticed the dejected look on the bassist's features.

"What's wrong, Mio-chan?" he asked. It seemed he had forgotten his irritation from earlier.

She glanced at him momentarily and blushed a little. "What the council president did..." she mumbled, "it was a bit...." Her voice trailed off uncertainly. "I don't think there's anything I can do for her." Yui suddenly jumped from her seat.

"Oh, but there is!" the excitable girl cried.

"Wah!" Mio nearly fell from her chair. "You startled me!" she cried back. Yui ignored her for a moment.

"There's something only you can do, Mio-chan!" she said, pushing forward to where their faces were hardly an inch apart. The grin on her face made Mio worry a little, as Roy asked sheepishly for the girl to sit down.

* * *

The curtain pulled back on the stage, revealing the band in full concert gear. Nodoka and Megumi below gasped.

"We would like to congratulate Sogabe Megumi-san on her graduation!" Mio said into her mic. Roy could see Megumi blush and smile from where he was standing. "As out gift for the occasion," Mio continued, "please accent our song!"

Everyone on the stage called out simultaneously, "'Fuwa Fuwa Time!'" Ritsu counted out the beat and they played the song beautifully. Megumi was literally in tears by the end of the performance.

Roy desperately fought the urge to face-vault right there.

Megumi was standing stock still. She hadn't yet shown any reaction to the band's performance. "Pull yourself together, senpai!" Nodoka urged worriedly.

"WHAT IS THIS?!" the student council president suddenly screamed at Mio. "You used the gym without permission?" Everyone looked horror-struck at the girl's words.

Megumi quickly regained her composure and coughed lightly into her hand. "And that was my official stance on the matter," she muttered. She quickly rushed up to Mio and began begging her to sign an autograph for her. Roy face-palmed. Nodoka watched on in disbelief.

"This reminds me," Yui began randomly, "who is our next student council president?"

Nodoka answered, "Well, that would be me." Yui's eyes shone with a surprised light.

"What?" she stammered hysterically. "Are you serious? This is just awesome!" Nodoka stared at her childhood friendly evenly.

"It was announced to all students at the general meeting," she said matter-of-factly.

Ritsu tried to bribe Nodoka with some of Mugi's sweets, being that she was the new council president. She refused weakly. Megumi tried to offer her position as president of Mio's fan club to her, and she denied her request as well, saying, "I don't need it!"

Roy thought that sounded like a strange denial, but ignored it. He just laughed at Nodoka's outraged face. Megumi eyed him evenly.

"You shouldn't laugh, Roy-san," she said coyly. "After the club's last performance just before Christmas, both you and Yui-san have fan clubs as well." A sly grin played on her features as Roy and Yui stared at the girl.

Roy felt like the bottom of his stomach had fallen out. The last thing he needed were obsessed fan girls chasing him (he also worried about their reaction to his relationship with Yui.)

Yui couldn't be happier. A bright grin shone across her features, and it threatened to outshine the fluorescent lighting above them.

Roy face-palmed again.

* * *

At the beginning of the term, it was their lucky break to have been gathered into the same class. All five of them, and Nodoka as well, were in class two together. Mio was probably the happiest about being close to everyone else. She had been separated into a different class. The only people she'd known there were Roy and Nodoka. Not that they weren't great friends, but Mio felt safer in a larger group of her friends.

Up until that point (Megumi had officially graduated now, leaving Nodoka her student council president position) they had been given a substitute in class two. Today, they would be meeting the person who would be with them until the end of the semester. The class was abuzz with speculation about who it could be. Roy wasn't really interested in who the new teacher would be... as long as he could sit near Yui, he didn't have a problem.

Roy was going to have many problems this term.

To his horror, the sensei that would be teaching was none other than Yamanaka Sawako. The bright demeanor that glowed around Sawako when she announced herself belied the evil, torturous person that Roy knew was really there.

He overheard a few girls whispering a few seats away. "...so lucky that Yamanaka-sensei is our homeroom teacher!" The other girl nodded excitedly, but Roy smirked. "She's so pretty and seems gentle...."

Roy poked his head forward to interrupt them. "Don't let her outward appearance fool you," he said with a dark smirk. "Ero-sensei is actually-"

"Page-san!" Sawako called suddenly.

"Y-yes!" Roy blurted out.

"Please keep whispering to a minimum, okay?" the teacher asked in a sweet voice that Roy knew all too well was false.

"Of course, sensei," he responded. "Very sorry."

After class, he followed Ritsu out of the classroom. She ran up at Sawako, who was walking away from them slowly. "Sawa-chan!" she called after the teacher. "Wait up!"

Ritsu and Roy stopped in front of her. He noticed that Mio and Yui had caught up behind them. "Could it be you had something to do with the class assignments, Sawa-chan?" Ritsu asked. Sawako winked.

"That's right," she said merrily. "I put everybody in the same class."

"Is that okay, though?" Ritsu asked warily. "Isn't that an abuse of authority?"

Sawako looks displeased. "What, you're not happy?" Mio grimaced.

"Well, we are happy," the bassist replied, "but...." Her voice trailed off randomly.

"Besides," Sawako continued, "there'll be fewer names that I have to memorize, so it's like killing two birds with one stone." Ritsu and Mio sweat-dropped.

"I'm so happy!" Yui cried suddenly, latching onto Sawako's hands. "Thanks so much!"

"Umm… you're welcome," Sawako answered in a shaky voice. Ritsu crossed her arms.

"Yui, you need to calm down a bit," she told the girl. Yui stared at her.

"But this is our last year in high school and we are all together," she explained. "We'll go on field trips together," she continued in a dreamy voice. "We'll participate in the school festival together as a class. We'll be able to look at each other's test, too!" Roy snapped into focus at that.

"Everyone, let's make lots of memories together!" Yui said excitedly.

"What was that last part?" Roy asked with a grin. Yui smiled sheepishly.

"Looking at each other's tests...?" Yui answered. She giggled a bit.

Roy sighed and smiled at her. "At least you're honest," he said tiredly. "If you're really worried about exam, though, I'll help you study." He ruffled her hair like one would a child. "You know that." She stuck her tongue out playfully.

And a new term officially begins.

* * *

A/N: Yeah, surprise. I moved around a bit. That scene with the new class should have been the very first thing they did for the new term, but the writers for K-On! are about as intelligent about time as I am about quantum physics... which is to say not at all.

So yeah, a little below 3,000 words here, but just barely. Not much overall plot development. So many fillers chapters back to back... it's quite irritating, actually. Lucky Roy, though. I picked on Mio a little more in this chapter than on him... but I still couldn't resist torturing Roy a little towards the end.

Chapters will probably be coming slower from now on. I move back into my college dorm room next Monday, and classes start Wednesday. After that, I'll still be able to write, just not quite as much. Wish me luck, though!

September 27, 2009: Fixed the Japanese. Almost done with the chapters.


	13. No Surprize

Hola peoples. Okay, yeah, I know… I kinda crapped out the last chapter by making it about the album, but it was fun to write. I wish I had more enthusiasm to write while I'm at school… but it makes it seem like schoolwork… which sucks.

So yeah, here's the next chapter. Oh joy… Valentines filler. Yay for Roy-kun, though.

Woot! Chapter 38 is up on OneManga. Finally!

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to K-On!

Random advertisement: Check out Aikuchi Shikaku. Not only is he borrowing Roy (my OC, with permission) for a K-On! story, he's adopted my Naruto story. I'm glad he has such a drive to write. I really appreciate his work

* * *

"Valentine's Day is coming up."

Roy looked up at his mother. Something in the woman's smile put him on edge. "Yeah…" he said shiftily.

"Are you going to make a Valentine card for Yui-chan?" she asked with a sickly sweet smile. Roy frowned; he didn't like it when his parents used honorifics in English for emphasis… normally when saying "Yui-chan" just to spite him.

"It's not actually a custom in Japan to give cards," Roy explained flatly. He glanced up at his mother again. "I might make one anyway," he added offhandedly. His mother nodded.

"I know about the Japanese custom," she explained. "But we're American, and I don't think Yui would mind a heartfelt card made by you." Roy blushed a little.

"I'll make a card," he finally said. His mother smiled and returned to washing the dishes like she had been before. Roy grunted (something he hardly ever did) and left the room.

'_Geez… I might as well get it done, though,'_ he thought. _'Valentine's Day is just two days from now.'

* * *

_

"Moshi-Moshi!" Yui called into the phone as she answered it. "Hi Mio-chan!"

"Valentine's Day is tomorrow," Mio said through the receiver.

"I know," Yui replied in a strange, soft voice. "I still haven't bought anything for Roy-kun, though...." Mio sweat-dropped.

'_She's not even thinking about the rest of the club,'_ the bassist told herself.

"Ah, Mio-chan!" Yui suddenly cried. Mio didn't dare to think… "I know what to get Roy-kun!" Mio face-palmed even though Yui couldn't see it.

"I'm gonna buy Roy-kun a new guitar!" Yui said. Mio perked up. That wasn't a bad idea, but…

"Where are you gonna get that kind of money?" she asked. She could almost feel Yui's smile slip from her features. "I have an idea," Mio continued. "Why don't we all pitch in and pay for the guitar; it can be from all four of us!"

"Oh, that's great, Mio-chan!" Yui said. Mio smiled. "Thank you so much!"

"We'll go to pick it up before school tomorrow, but don't let Roy know about it," Mio ordered.

"Yes!" Yui replied. Mio bid her good night and hung up.

'_She must really love that boy,'_ Mio thought. _'I guess they're both really lucky to have each other.'

* * *

_

_Valentine's Day…_

Mio knew there was something wrong that day. Sure it was Valentine's Day… she had never truly enjoyed the holiday, having never had a boyfriend before, but it was a good excuse to mooch chocolate from Ritsu. _'If only it didn't make me gain weight,'_ Mio complained. But she still knew something was different about today, more so than just Valentine's Day.

Yui was smiling… a lot.

She had been grinning uncontrollably and glancing at Roy throughout the entire day. Sawako-sensei hadn't said anything about it, but she had given Yui a strange glance when she walked in.

Mio knew what Yui was planning. She knew Roy would be surprised. She knew that Yui was almost as excited about all of this as Roy would be. Mio felt like today would be a good day. She didn't normally get into this kind of thing; picking on Roy was Ritsu's thing, but Mio was enjoying the suspicion in Roy's eyes.

The bell eventually rang for classes to end for the day. Yui was out the door before anyone had moved. Roy stared after the girl with a quirked eyebrow. "Okay then," he mumbled awkwardly.

Mio stood next to him. "Don't worry about it," she said to him. "It's Valentine's Day; who knows what she planned?" She walked past him without looking back.

Roy frowned a little and followed after her. Mugi and Ritsu were walking behind him, whispering something that he couldn't quite hear. He sighed as he walked up the set of stairs near the club room. Whatever Yui had planned, he was about to find out.

He opened the door to the club room expecting to see… something (he wasn't quite sure what he expected), but what he saw there certainly wasn't.

Yui was standing there in her school uniform, but she was holding something in her hands. This something was what surprised Roy so much. Yui was holding a Dean® EVO Dragster®. It was a guitar he had been wanting for quite some time, but his father's store didn't carry them. And now it was right in front of him.

The guitar's body shape was similar to a Gibson® Les Paul® design, but there were differences. The headstock was similar to a Les Paul shape with the Dean® company logo. There where red, orange, and yellow flames dancing over the black body of the guitar, which had been shined to perfection. The full meaning of why Yui was holding the guitar hit him.

Roy fainted.

* * *

The scene that Mugi and Ritsu walked in on was very strange. Roy was lying on the floor, seemingly unconscious. Mio and Yui were kneeling over him, making sure he was okay. In Yui's hand was the EVO Dragster guitar. Ritsu eyed the guitar strangely. Yui's arm twitched and a blinding light reflected off the guitar's body. It shone directly into Ritsu's eyes. She squealed and fell forward, somehow grabbing Mugi, Yui, and Mio along with her. They all fell on top of Roy, who quickly woke up.

He didn't stay that way long. Somehow or another, Yui had ended up straddling Roy's chest. He got quite a good view of her unmentionables and promptly passed out with his nose bleeding profusely.

Everyone groaned and pulled themselves apart. Yui glanced back at her boyfriend and noticed the blood still trickling from his nose. She quickly realized the position she had been in and blushed. She backed up from his body and began wiping away the blood from his face.

She looked up at the others. Mio looked concerned, Mugi looked shocked, and Ritsu looked like she was about to burst out laughing. Yui puffed up indignantly with a glare at the drummer, who quickly regained her composure. Yui's face fell and she looked back at Roy with a small, apologetic smile. "Sorry, Roy-kun," she mumbled.

Mio and Ritsu helped Yui move Roy into a chair. He sat in the chair peacefully; it seemed like he was just sleeping now. Yui pulled up another chair and sat next to him trying to clean the blood from his shirt. Mio and the others sat at the regular tea table. They kept silent.

The EVO Dragster sat against the wall next to the guitar that Roy had brought for the day, his Gibson Marauder®. Yui cast a glance over at the guitar and smiled. _'Roy-kun must have really liked the guitar,'_ she thought. _'He was so surprised. He looked really happy.'_ Yui smiled back at him against and gasped when he was smiling back at her, his face mere inches away from hers.

Yui shrieked and fell back from her chair. Roy gasped, but Yui started laughing. "You scared me, Roy-kun!" she said after a moment. Roy started laughing, too. The others followed. Roy suddenly stopped.

"Oh!" he said with a look of remembrance. He pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to Yui. The girl took it with a curious look.

It was a card. Yui gasped when she opened the card and read:

"_Yui-chan,_

_Thank you so much for loving me. My life was so uninteresting before my family moved here. As soon as I met you I knew things would be different. That night at the training camp was one of the happiest moments of my life. I remember the Christmas morning when you told me you loved me. You've made me so happy, Yui-chan. Thank you._

_I love you,_

_Roy 3"_

Yui set the card down on her lap and looked up at Roy with tears streaming from her eyes. "I love you, too Roy-kun," she whispered. She kissed him lightly on his lips. They both smiled into the kiss. They both pulled back after a moment with their faces warm and red.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Yui-chan."

* * *

"I'm home!" Roy called through his house.

"Welcome home, sweetie," his mother answered. "How was your day?" Roy smiled as he sat down at the kitchen table.

"It was a pretty good day," he said offhandedly. "Yui liked my card." Melissa nodded absentmindedly as she continued preparing dinner. "Oh, and apparently she bought me a new guitar."

The frying pan that had been in his mother's hand hit the floor with a loud clang.

"She bought you a guitar?" she asked incredulously. Roy's father, Ryan, had now entered the room after hearing the loud noise from the pan.

"Who bought you a guitar?" he asked

"Yui," Roy answered simply. Ryan's eyebrows rose.

"What guitar?" he asked. Roy got up from the table and went into the living room where he had set down his stuff. Both of the guitars (the EVO Dragster and the Marauder he had brought that day) were sitting in their cases against the wall near the sofa. Roy took the Dragster from its case and carried it back into the kitchen.

As soon as he walked back in, the frying pan that his mother had just picked up fell to the floor again. His father, who had just gotten a soda from the refrigerator, spilled his drink down his shirt.

"Yeah, my reaction was better," Roy said with a laugh. "I fainted." Ryan laughed as well.

"That's no great surprise, son," he said. "That's a $500 guitar right there. And _Yui_ bought it for you?" Roy nodded. "Where did she get that kind of money? She doesn't have a job, I don't think." Roy shook his head.

"She's never said anything to me about it," he replied. "Either she saved up allowance from her parents or asked Mugi to pay for it." Melissa nodded.

"I think you're closer on the second guess," she answered. Roy looked at his mother with confusion evident. "I actually overheard the girls talking about it today. They all put their money together and paid for the guitar."

"They must have bought it from another store," Ryan said, "because we don't carry EVO Dragsters."

Roy looked like he was on the verge of crying. "But…" His voice cracked. "None of them said anything about buying it together." Tears began streaming from his eyes, but he was smiling the while time. "I just assumed Yui bought it herself." He grinned up at his parents. "Excuse me," he said quietly, "I need to make a phone call." His parents smiled as they watched him leave.

Roy composed himself as he picked up his phone. He decided he wanted to conference everyone in at the same time. He dialed Mio's number first.

"Moshi-moshi," the bassist answered.

"Hey, Mio-chan," Roy said.

"Hey, Roy-kun, what's up?" she asked casually.

"Well, actually, I'd like to wait until I conference everyone else into the call, too," he said. "One sec." He pressed the correct button and dialed the numbers. Soon, Ritsu, Mugi, and finally Yui were on the line as well.

"What's going on, Roy-kun?" Ritsu asked.

"Did something happen with the guitar?" Yui asked.

"Actually," Roy started, "It turns out my mom overheard you all earlier." Mio and Ritsu gasped. "Thanks for the guitar, everyone."

"Oh, Roy," Mio complained. "You weren't supposed to find out." Roy frowned, though obviously none of them could see it. "You were just supposed to think it was a gift from Yui."

"Sorry, Roy-kun," Yui said softly.

"It's not a big deal, Yui-chan," Roy replied gently. "Thank you. I appreciate you all for doing this, really." He heard Ritsu breathe a sigh of relief. "Next time, though," he added, "just tell me the truth." Mugi laughed.

"We promise, Roy-kun," she said.

"I will be honest, Roy-kun," Mio said. "It was Yui's idea to get you a guitar. I was actually my idea to have everyone help pay for it."

"Thanks, Mio-chan," Roy relied. "Well, I suppose I'll go play my new guitar for a while. I'll call you later, Yui-chan," he added.

"Okay!" she cried. "Talk to you later, Roy-kun. Bye everyone."

"Bye!" Ritsu cried. Mio and Mugi followed suit and everyone hung up.

Roy sighed heavily, but smiled happily. He heard his mother call for dinner. He walked into the kitchen area still smiling. He sat down without a word, but looked up at his parents, who were smiling back at him.

"I have really awesome friends," he said simply.

"I wouldn't jump to any conclusions," Ryan said as he began shoveling food onto his plate. Roy quirked an eyebrow at him. "Well, you know the Japanese custom for Valentine's Day is that girls give a gift to guys in February and the guys have to buy a gift for the girl exactly a month later." Roy's smile fell faster than the American stock market.

"And the guy's gift is usually more expensive than the original gift," he finished. "Oh crap, I have to buy gifts for all four of them, too!" He started panicking. "We don't have that kind of money!" Ryan laughed, earning a strange look from his son.

"Look at it this way," he began. "Mugi probably paid for most of it, and you said her family owns a music store like ours anyway so she probably got it half off." Roy nodded. "So you're really splitting the total cost of the guitar across all four of them, meaning you don't have to spend as much on each girl as you were thinking." Roy nodded.

"Oh, that makes sense," he said dumbly. "Sorry, I started panicking a little there."

"A _little_?" Ryan asked. Roy glared at him.

"Don't worry about 'White Day,' dear," Melissa said. "It's still a month away." Roy smiled.

"Thanks, mom. Could you pass the biscuits?"

* * *

_8:00 that night…_

"Moshi-moshi?" Yui said into her phone. "Roy-kun!"

"Hiya, Yui-chan," Roy said.

"Did you play your new guitar?" Yui asked him.

"No, not yet," he replied. "Mom called me for dinner as soon as I hung up earlier."

"Did you tell them everything that happened today?" she asked.

Roy blushed. "Not everything," he answered shiftily. "I didn't tell them about everyone falling on top of me and the nosebleed and all that." Yui blushed as well.

"Yeah, sorry about that."

"It's cool," he replied. "What are you doing right now?"

"Talking to Mio-chan online. She's telling me I need to start looking at colleges before it's too late."

"Well, you really should," Roy said. "It'll be the end of the year before you know it." Yui groaned.

"Don't remind me," she complained. "I don't want to leave everyone. What about the band? What about Sawa-chan-sensei?" She paused momentarily. "What about you, Roy-kun?" Roy sighed.

"Well, I already have a few colleges lined up," he said carefully. "I'm really sure you could get into them, too. I won't force everyone else to go to the same college, but I'd at least like to stay with you, Yui-chan."

"Me too."

They sat in silence for a moment. "What's your online screen name, Yui-chan?" Roy finally asked as he pulled up AOL® Instant Messenger® on his computer.

"'_FuwaFuwaYui_,'" the girl answered. Roy sweat-dropped.

'_I should've known,'_ he told himself. "Mine is '_TheNextPage_.'"

"Okay, I'll hang up and we can talk online then," Yui said.

"Alright." They both hung up as Yui sent the first message.

_((The following will be an online conversation using the screen names.))_

_FuwaFuwaYui: Hello Roy-kun!_

_TheNextPage: Hey Yui._

_FuwaFuwaYui: I'm gonna invite Mio-chan, Ricchan, and Mugi-chan to join us, okay?_

_TheNextPage: That's fine._

FudeMelody, KICKtheBEAT, and Tsumu have entered the chat room.

_FudeMelody: Thanks, Yui. Hey Roy-kun._

_KICKtheBEAT: Hiya, Roy-kun._

_Tsumu: Hello, Roy-kun._

_TheNextPage: Hi everyone._

_FuwaFuwaYui: Hey guys!_

_FudeMelody: What's up?_

_TheNextPage: Not much._

_Tsumu: Same here._

_KICKtheBEAT: I was thinking about the concert to attract new students, actually._

_FudeMelody: O.O Ritsu thinking?!_

_TheNextPage: ROFL_

_KICKtheBEAT: Very funny xP Seriously, though, we need to have a concert._

_FuwaFuwaYui: Yeah, we need someone who will be in the club when we all leave next year._

_Tsumu: Yes._

_FudeMelody: That's true._

_TheNextPage: Okay, so should we work on a set list real quick?_

_KICKtheBEAT: Yeah sure._

_TheNextPage: Alright, well, we should probably play 1 or 2 songs from the album; the cover songs._

_FudeMelody: Yeah, I was thinking that._

_Tsumu: I like that._

_FuwaFuwaYui: What songs?_

_FudeMelody: How about one song for Roy and one song for me or Yui?_

_TheNextPage: That's fine with me. Yui?_

_FuwaFuwaYui: I like that._

_KICKtheBEAT: I like that "Stand By Me" that Yui sang on the album. I really like that song._

_Tsumu: I liked that one, too._

_TheNextPage: Okay, then. And I'll sing "Dream On."_

_FudeMelody: Okay, and I think we should definitely play "Fuwa Fuwa Time."_

_KICKtheBEAT: That's probably all the time Nodoka will give us to play._

_TheNextPage: Alright then._

_FuwaFuwaYui: Yay!_

_FudeMelody: I'll sing for "Fuwa Fuwa Time" and you sing "Stand By Me," okay Yui?_

_FuwaFuwaYui: Yeah!_

_Tsumu: Looks good to me. Excuse me, I have to go. Father is calling. Talk to you all later._

_TheNextPage: Bye, Mugi-chan._

_FuwaFuwaYui: Bye Mugi-chan!_

_KICKtheBEAT: Later Mugi-chan!_

_FudeMelody: Bye Mugi._

Tsumu has left the chat room.

_KICKtheBEAT: I'd better go, too. My brother is begging me to play games with him again. Bye all!_

_FudeMelody: See you Ritsu._

_TheNextPage: Later Ricchan._

_FuwaFuwaYui: Bye Ricchan!_

KICKtheBEAT has left the chat room.

_TheNextPage: It's 9:00 I have to go, too. Dad wanted me to help him with some inventory tonight. Bye Mio. Bye Yui-chan._

_FuwaFuwaYui: Bye, Roy-kun. I need to go, too so bye Mio-chan._

_FudeMelody: Bye, Roy-kun and Yui._

TheNextPage and FuwaFuwaYui have left the chat room.

FudeMelody has left the chat room.

((A/N: In case you couldn't tell, FudeMelody is Mio, KICKtheBEAT is Ritsu, and Tsumu is Mugi. Yui and Roy should have been obvious.))

* * *

A/N: WOOTNESS. That was awesome. Basically the entire second half of that was spur of the moment. Yay. Wow, and I wasn't expecting the online conversation, but they're so funny when they're done right. I don't think mine was really that funny, but it was cool to do. Pain in the elephany to write those screen names over and over, though.

Well, sorry for the wait on this chapter. I wish I could've gotten it done quicker, but like I said before I've started a new job and my schoolwork is starting to pick up a little bit. Hopefully, I'll get into a decent routine of writing soon. I should be home this weekend, so expect "Black Fire" to be my next update.

Oh, on a side note. I'm currently going through all of the previous chapters and removing most of the Japanese words. It's just been bugging me for some time now. It all looks a lot smoother like this. You probably noticed it in this chapter, too. I decided to keep honorifics and several Japanese phrases, but most of the language is gone.


	14. Toys in the Attic

Hey guys. Geez, it's been a while since my last update. Sorry about that. "Black Fire" didn't end up getting updated, but I started a new Harry Potter fic called "Burnt to Ashe." You should check it out; I'd really appreciate it.

Anywho, shameful advertisements aside, onto news! K-On! 40 is up. Very helpful since it looks like the band will be adding more songs. That means more to go on the next album! Also, I got my first paycheck today! Wootness! Working has paid off!

Disclaimer: I don't own K-On! Also, the Gibson SG® guitar featured in this chapter isn't my property either.

* * *

Roy rushed through the hallways as fast as he could. His book bag had ripped open on the way to the music club room, spilling its contents all over the floor. He had to stay behind to gather everything up while the girls went ahead. They had offered to stay behind, but Roy shooed them along saying he would catch up.

Of course, he hadn't counted on Sawako trying to drag him into the broom closet on the second floor with a devilish gleam in her eyes. He barely managed to escape the perverted teacher, and was currently putting as much distance between himself and the deranged woman as he could.

He raced up the staircase and nearly leaped through the doorway into the room. Sadly, he tripped over a box that wasn't normally there and fell. What surprised him was the rather soft feeling of the floor. He opened his eyes and saw something beneath him that he hadn't hoped to find.

He was lying on top of Yui in a very provocative position. What was worse was his hand that had somehow found its way into her chest in a rather embarrassing attempt to halt his descent.

His head felt light and his nose flooded red, but Roy had the sense to push himself away for the girl before-

"Lookey what we have here!"

_'Damn my luck today…'_ Roy thought irritably.

He looked up at Ritsu who, to his great displeasure, had a mischievous grin on her face. Roy felt a rush of déjà vu as he noticed a small pink camera in Ritsu's right hand. Her grin spelled the story differently this time, though. "Oops, I think I might have actually got the picture this time," she said brightly.

Roy and Yui both blushed, but no other reaction could be seen. For his part, Roy was already working his brain for some way to get back at Ritsu. He turned to pick his bag up from the floor and his foot hit the box that he had tripped over.

"What's this box here for?" he asked curiously. It was then that he finally noticed several other boxes spread throughout the club room. The girls had also removed their jackets (something they hardly ever did while still at school).

"Spring cleaning," Mio answered. "I figured he should clean up around here. After all, this room doesn't belong to us, but we've been using it for over two years. We should clean up a bit." Roy nodded.

"Alright, is there anything I can help with?" he asked.

Mio looked thoughtful. "Could you start carrying some of these boxes to the foot of the stairs?" she suggested.

Roy nodded. "Sure." He picked up the first box, took it down the stairs, and returned to find the girls huddled around a long, thin case. "What's in there?" he asked as Ritsu opened it. He peered over Yui's shoulder.

It was a Gibson SG guitar. It wasn't it great condition; in fact, Roy could see a bit of mold growing on it. "Wow, that guitar must be ancient," he said.

"That was the guitar I played when I was a student here," a voice said behind him.

Roy jumped nearly four feet in the air and quickly cowered behind Yui. Sawako laughed while the others stared at him awkwardly. "This brings back old memories," she said thoughtfully. Roy stopped.

"Wait, you were a student here?" he asked curiously. Sawako nodded.

"You didn't know that, Roy-kun?" she replied. He shook his head.

"And you were a member of the Light Music club then?" he continued. Sawako nodded as Yui showed him a picture. It showed Sawako and her band back when they attended Sakuragaoka. "I always knew you weren't right in the head," he said jokingly to the teacher. Sawako huffed indignantly.

Yui picked up the old guitar and pushed into Sawako's hands. A look of shock came across the teacher's face. "Well, I don't really need it since I don't have spare time to play it anymore," she said. "Please sell it and use the money for the club." Yui's eyes sparkled. She turned to Roy.

"Roy-kun!" she cried. "You know more about guitars than us, so how much do you think that guitar will sell for?" Roy eyed the guitar. There was a little mold growing on it; it had clearly been in that box for quite some time. But still, will a little cleaning up, it could be in fairly good shape.

"We could probably get around ¥400,000 for it," Roy said thoughtfully, "with a little work of course." He eyed the guitar again. "I'm sure my dad would probably give more than that for it."

Sawako looked impressed, but the other girls were practically drooling. Roy sighed and grabbed the guitar. "I'll take it home with me and let dad look over it," he said. "I'll bring back an estimate tomorrow."

* * *

"So, what do you think, Dad?" Roy asked as he handed the guitar over. Yui had decided to tag along; Roy didn't mind.

"Well," his father began, "it looks in pretty bad shape right now, but it could probably be a nice sell with some work." Roy nodded.

"Yeah, I figured as much," he replied.

"Where did you find this guitar again?" Ryan asked.

Yui answered, "I found it in the club room today. We were doing a bit of cleaning and I found the case and pulled it out." Ryan nodded.

"Hmmm," he mumbled to himself for a moment while Roy and Yui walked pointlessly around the shop. After a few minutes, he called out to them. "I'll offer you ¥600,000 for it once you get in good condition." Roy looked shocked, but Yui nearly fainted. Her body swayed to the side and Roy had to catch her.

"Six… six hundred thousand…" she muttered incoherently. Roy patted her softly on the head and led her away.

"Uhh... thanks, Dad," he called back. "I'll work on the guitar later tonight. I think Yui-chan needs a moment to settle down." Ryan nodded as they left up the stairs.

* * *

Roy watched Yui carefully. It wasn't like she was sick or anything, but her body had gone into a bit of shock after hearing his father's price offer. Roy was surprised he'd offered that much, but wasn't nearly as shocked as Yui was. He knew more about guitars and why that particular guitar was worth so much.

Vintage Gibson SGs in good condition are hard to come by. There's a debate about whether or not the finder should fix the guitar up. On the one hand, good condition SGs could sell for quite a bit of money, some of the most expensive vintage guitars available. On the other hand, there's always a chance of messing with the guitar too much; the sound of the guitar is obviously the most important part (aside from perhaps the guitarist).

Roy already knew he would be trying to fix up the guitar. Honestly, if the guitar got messed up somehow, it was no big deal. Sure, that money would be awesome for the group, but it's not like they needed ¥600,000 for anything in particular. _'Sure, a new amp would be nice,'_ Roy thought longingly before looking down at his girlfriend.

Yui was curled up next to him as he lay on his bed. She seemed content; most of the shock had passed, but she had fallen asleep. Roy decided not to wake her so he could enjoy a quiet moment. _'I take it back,'_ he continued, _'I would spend my money on a nice date with Yui. I'm sure she would enjoy that.'_

Yui stirred and Roy smiled down at her. She smiled back and pushed herself up to sit level with him.

"I just had the strangest dream," she said groggily.

"Oh?" Roy said interestedly.

"Yeah, we were cleaning the club room and I found a really old guitar and then we took it to your dad and he said he'd give us ¥600,000 for it." She laughed, but Roy stared at her.

"Uhh, Yui-chan," he said carefully, "that actually happened." Yui stopped laughing immediately.

"Really?" she asked. Roy nodded slowly. Yui gasped and screamed. "¥600,000!" she cried and hugged Roy. They heard laughter from downstairs that sounded like Roy's dad. Roy started laughing, too.

"I have an idea," Roy suggested suddenly. Yui paused and looked at him. "Would you like to stay over for dinner and watch me work on the guitar? It'll probably be a good learning experience for you."

She didn't look enthusiastic about learning in general, but Yui nodded her approval happily. "Am I just staying for dinner or would your parents mind if I stayed over the whole night?" she asked.

Roy quirked an eyebrow. "I'm sure that would be fine," he replied. "Let's go ask now."

They got up and walked downstairs. Roy's mother had just gotten home and was beginning preparations for dinner. "Hey kids," she said as Roy and Yui walked in. "What's up?"

"Hey Mom," Roy answered.

"Hello, Melissa-chan," Yui said. Melissa smiled at them.

"Would you have any problem with Yui-chan staying over tonight?" Roy asked. His mother turned to him. "We found a guitar in the club room and I was gonna work on it tonight; I asked Yui-chan and she said she wanted to watch."

Melissa nodded. "Sounds fine," she said gently, "but you have school tomorrow so you two had better get to bed before midnight." Both teenagers nodded.

"Thanks," Roy said. He gave his mom a hug and Yui did the same.

* * *

"So this is kinda like doing extreme maintenance on a guitar," Roy explained. "Since this guitar is in worse state than normal, it will probably take a little more work to fix it up. We'll definitely have to put on new strings...."

Yui nodded dumbly. Roy glanced at her. "Sorry, that's a little too much info at one time," he said. "Umm, the neck is probably warped, too," he continued. "It's really hard to tell just by looking at the guitar, but even a slight bend can mess up the tuning entirely." Yui nodded.

Roy twirled the guitar around in his hands a few times, getting a good look at everything that needed to be done. "This isn't good," he muttered after a while.

"What's wrong?" Yui asked immediately.

"The pick-ups," Roy said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. He looked up at her again. "Umm, the pick-ups are worthless. We'll need to get new ones, but that'll be really difficult for a vintage guitar." He sighed. "It's a good idea to use the same type of pick-ups that a guitar originally came with to preserve the sound." Yui nodded.

"That makes sense," she said.

"The fretboard needs to be polished and cleaned," Roy continued, "but luckily it's fine otherwise." He stopped talking and examined the guitar some more. "The body could use a good clean and polish," he muttered absently. "I think that's about it, actually. There doesn't seem to be much else that needs to be done. The hard part will be the pick-ups."

"I'm sure dad could order them; some stores keep them for instances like this," he said. "But I don't think he would want to pay for pick-ups on a guitar he's going to buy."

Yui stared thoughtfully at the guitar for a moment. "What if you asked your dad to order the pick-ups with part of the money he was going to give us for the guitar?" she asked. "That way, it would be like we were paying for the pick-ups anyway."

Roy grinned and kissed Yui on the lips. "Brilliant, Yui-chan!" he said. "One sec!" Roy bolted from his chair and found his dad upstairs in the living room. He returned a few moments later with a broad grin. "He said that'd be great," Roy said as he sat back down. Yui squealed happily and hugged her boyfriend.

"Alright, now let me show you how to fix a warped neck," Roy said, getting back to work.

* * *

_Later that night…_

"So now all we need to work on is-" Roy's sentence cut off as he felt something heavy fall against his side. He glanced down and saw Yui slumped over his shoulder fast asleep. He looked at the clock on the wall next to the work station and saw it was nearly midnight. "Okay, bed time," he whispered.

Roy carefully picked Yui up bridal-style and carried her through the doorway. He somehow managed to maneuver her up the stairs and into the spare bedroom. He paused in the doorway. His parents were already asleep by now.

He turned towards his own bedroom, hesitating only a fraction of a second before making up his mind. Roy carried Yui into his room and set her down on his bed. He slowly pulled the sheet over her. He smiled as she snuggled into the fabric contently. Roy climbed onto the bed on top of the sheet that Yui was underneath so there would be no direct bodily contact. He wrapped an arm around Yui's stomach before he heard her sigh blissfully.

He drifted off to sleep almost instantly.

* * *

_The next day…_

"ROY JOSEPH PAGE!"

Said boy jumped out of his bed instantly. So did the girl he had been sleeping next to.

_'Oh hell…'_ Roy thought.

"Roy, why were you and Yui sleeping in the same bed?" his mother asked.

In all the years Roy had known his mother (which had been quite a few years) he had never seen her quite as angry as she was now. Roy was afraid to answer. He didn't dare glance at Yui, although he could feel her eyes on his back.

"Well, we got done working on the guitar around midnight," Roy began, careful to keep eye contact with his mother. "Yui fell asleep on my shoulder so I carried her up to my bed."

"Why didn't you lie her down in the guest bed?" Melissa asked.

Roy frowned. His eyes wanted to turn and look at Yui, but he forced himself to stare forward. "It didn't seem to right to leave her by herself," he said. "And I made sure she was under the sheet and I was on top of the sheet, so no contact."

His mother's expression softened slightly but Roy didn't dare to think he was off the hook. "You're not off the hook yet, young man," Melissa said. Roy nearly face-palmed right there. "You two better head off to school, but you can be sure I'll be having a talk with your father about this." She left the room quietly.

Roy finally turned to look at Yui, but his vision was obscured by the girl's hair as she literally bounded over the bed and hugged him in one swift movement. _'This girl could be an acrobat for the circus, I swear,'_ he told himself. "Yui-chan?" he said happily.

"Roy-kun," the girl answered softly. "Thank you for not leaving me alone." He smiled down at her.

"I know you don't like to sleep by yourself."

"Thank you." She reached up and kissed him softly.

* * *

_That afternoon…_

"Hey everyone," Roy called as he walked into the club room. He had been held behind by Sawako again, although she'd had a legitimate reason this time. Apparently his answers and Yui's had been exactly the same. Roy simply explained, "Yui's getting smarter, Sawa-sensei. Besides, we don't even sit near each other." This cleared the suspicion quickly.

"I got an estimate from my dad on the guitar," he told Mio. "He offered ¥600,000 if I can get it fixed up."

The tea that Mio and Ritsu had been drinking was forcefully expunged from each girl's mouth. Mugi looked surprised, but made no other visible reaction.

"Six… six hundred thousand…" Mio stammered.

"Yeah, that was my reaction," Yui said calmly as she sipped her tea.

"Six… hundred thousand…" Ritsu repeated. Both she and Mio were staring blankly at the wall in front of them. Roy looked concerned and waved a hand in front of their faces. Both girls snapped to attention and hugged Roy on either side.

"¥600,000!" they cried simultaneously over Roy's shouts of protest. Roy started laughing after a moment. Mio and Ritsu finally let him down and he had to brace himself on his knees for a few moments because he was laughing so hard. He sat down next to Yui and draped an arm around her shoulder with a peck on the cheek. She smiled brilliantly.

* * *

A/N: WOW. This took a long time to get out. And now I have to wait longer since Comma-chan isn't on (probably at band practice…) Not much to say in my defense really other than sorry. My new job and my crazy-ass college professors have been giving me a lot of work. Just know that I'm definitely not giving up on this story.

My next update will probably be next weekend for "Burnt to Ashe." I get a long weekend, so I'll have plenty of time to write.

I went through and fixed some mistakes and removed/edited some of the Japanese phrases in previous chapters. Didn't really change much, but it should make it easier for new readers.

11/12/09 - Holy crap, I haven't updated in like a month. Yeah, I know. Don't worry, I'm definitely not dropping this fic. I've just been really busy with school work. But Thanksgiving break is coming up, and I'll definitely get a chapter out during that time and then I'll be working on this fic a lot during Christmas break. Don't lose faith in me people!


	15. Let the Music Do the Talking

… Hello peoples…? Yeah, I never even started work on "Burnt to Ashe." It never happened. I got sidetracked by work and then bought a new game. _Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days_, it's **awesome**. But yeah, I decided I'd like to get another chapter out for BNP so here it goes.

Concert time! Yes! Expect more than just the concert in the chapter, though. I can only write so much without actually putting down the lyrics. But that would just be boring. I'll probably use some material from the chapter after the concert as well, but… Wait, why am I telling you all this? You should just read the chapter already!

Disclaimer: No ownz. *is sad*

* * *

"Oh crap!"

"Ah!"

"It's time to go!"

Roy grabbed his guitar case (with guitar safely inside) and ran out the door, Yui and the others right behind him.

"The concert for the new students starts in like twenty minutes!" Mio cried frantically. She was checking her watch every few steps which was quite a feat considering she was carrying her bass guitar and an amp.

"We gotta hurry!" Roy called as they rushed into the backstage of the auditorium. Sawako turned her head toward the group at the sound of their arrival. "We're – here –" he gasped out as he hunched over to catch his breath.

Sawako nodded and ushered them into (separate) dressing areas to get into their concert costumes. Roy quickly erupted from his seconds later glaring at the teacher. "Ero-sensei!" he cried angrily as Sawako backed away from him. In his left hand he held a single piece of cloth – a very small leotard.

Sawako held up her hands in a vain effort to placate the boy. "I thought it would be funny," she pleaded weakly.

"Any other time, I would probably brush this off," Roy fumed, "but we're really strapped for time right now so we don't need distractions like this!" He turned around and stalked back into his dressing area, throwing the revolting outfit aside at the doorway.

He stepped out several minutes later wearing a white polo shirt that fell over the top of his burnt-orange pants that stopped a few inches above his ankles. "Ready guys?" he called into the girls' section.

"Ready Roy-kun," Yui said happily as she walked out. She was followed shortly by Mugi, Mio, and Ritsu. All of the girls had on simple outfits.

Mio was wearing a black denim jacket over a plain white shirt and a pair of darkened jeans that stopped short of her ankles. Mugi wore a black button-up shirt with a light grey business tie over that and a pair of bleached jeans; her hair was pulled to hang over most of her left shoulder. Ritsu was wearing a sleeveless blue- and black-striped shirt with a black belt around her stomach with a pair of grey pants. Finally, Yui wore a long-sleeved shirt that was blue over her chest and stomach – the sleeves were blue- and black-striped like Ritsu's shirt – and a pair of grayish-brown pants that stopped short of her ankles like Mio's.

Roy smiled as he took in the girls' costumes. They were ready to go now, so everyone turned around and headed towards the stage entrance. The curtain was drawn closed so everyone could take their positions; their instruments had already been moved to the correct areas. Ritsu was in the back with her drums, Mugi to her left, and Roy, Mio, and Yui from left to right on the "front row."

They heard the announcer call out, "And now give a warm welcome to Sakuragaoka's very own… 'After School Tea Time!'" The crowd erupted into thunderous applause as the curtain revealed the band.

Roy pumped his fist in the air to excite the crowd as Mio gave the introduction to the first song. They played "Fuwa Fuwa Time" (Mio on lead vocals), eliciting even more applause from the crowd. As the song ended, Roy wiped his brow. As the roar of the crowd subsided Roy asked, "What did you all think of that?" only for the crowd to erupt into applause again. Roy laughed as the crowd began to settle down again. "How about I take a shot at this? What do you think?" The crowd cheered again as Roy nodded to the girls on the stage. "Alright then!" he said before beginning the intro to Aerosmith's "Dream On."

The crowd stayed silent through the entire song, only to cheer louder than before as the band finished the song. Roy smiled; he had been worried about singing in English at a Japanese school, but apparently it didn't matter. The crowd kept cheering for another minute before Roy finally turned to look at Yui.

"What do you say, Yui-chan?" he asked. "You feel like giving it a shot?"

"Of course!" she said back with a grin.

"Then I believe I'll need to change guitars," Roy replied. As he spoke, Sawako walked onto the stage and handed Roy his acoustic guitar and took the Dean EVO he had been playing. Roy plugged the amp cord into the guitar. He looked back at Yui and nodded.

The band played "Stand By Me" by Anna Tsuchiya. The crowd seemed to love it as they cheered louder than before. Ritsu stood from her seat and all five band members bowed thankfully towards the audience. "Thank you!" they all cried at once.

Roy looked back out at all the people cheering. "We just released our debut album!" he cried over the din in the arena. "You can get it free thanks to my dad, the owner of the 'Turn the Page' music store. The album features all of the songs we just performed and many more. Please enjoy it!" he said finally and left the stage with the girls.

* * *

A few hours later, the group found themselves sitting around the music room waiting.

…And waiting…

…_And waiting…_

"Okay, I've had enough!" Ritsu finally said as she shot up from her chair. "Someone better walk through that door soon or I'm gonna go crazy!"

"Wouldn't be a long trip," Roy muttered as the door opened.

"Um, excuse me," a small voice said as Roy jumped from his chair as well; Ritsu had begun chasing him around the room, much to the enjoyment of the other three girls. One Nanako Azusa was standing in the doorway watching the event unfold.

Mio finally looked at the doorway. "Oh, hello," she said calmly, to Azusa's surprise. "Were you here to join the Light Music Club?" Azusa merely nodded. "Great, we can- Oh, hold on a sec." Mio picked up a pencil from the desk in front of her and threw it at Ritsu; the eraser hit the drummer square between the eyes and she toppled over as Roy ran to cower behind Yui.

'_Is this really the same awesome band I saw just a few minutes ago?'_ Azusa asked herself. "Um, yes, I'm here to join," she said to the room. She felt very uncomfortable; five pairs of eyes were now trained on her. One in particular stood out. Azusa blushed as Roy sized the girl up.

"What instrument do you play?" He asked, figuring to get the question out of the way before Ritsu and Yui badgered the girl to death. He remembered what had happened when he showed up in the music room all that time ago.

Azusa fidgeted slightly. "I can play the guitar a little," she finally said. Roy's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"Were you at the concert earlier?" Mugi asked. Azusa nodded.

"Yeah, it was great!" she said excitedly as she looked around at the band members. "You guys were so awesome!" Her eyes lingered on Roy for a fraction of a second, but no one noticed.

"Well, thank you. But… we already have two guitarists," Mio said as Azusa's smile fell a little, "but you can certainly audition."

Roy and Yui both smiled. "Sure," Yui said, "you can be a back-up guitarist if Roy-kun or I can't make it to a concert." Roy nodded.

"And we'll all be graduating next year," he said, "and I'd assume you're a first- or second-year since I haven't seen you in any classes yet. So you can take over the Light Music Club next year while we're gone."

Yui made a noise like a squeak. "Are we really graduating so soon?" she asked sadly.

"It really doesn't seem like it's been that long," Mio mused.

"We've been here over two years," Ritsu said in a kind of hazy voice.

"Well, only one year for me," Roy corrected. He suddenly looked back to Azusa who seemed to have been forgotten momentarily. "Sorry about that," he said with a sheepish grin. "Kinda got sidetracked for a bit."

"It's no problem," Azusa said with a light blush. "I was here last year, too. I saw your performance last year…" Her voice trailed off as her blush increased and her gaze fell to the floor. "I came up to the music room to join, but I saw someone on the stairs talking with Ui-chan." Roy's eyebrows rose. "It wasn't until later I realized that was Roy Page, the new guitarist of the Light Music Club, that I saw."

Everyone's eyes focused on Roy (except his own, of course; that would be rather difficult without a mirror). "I ran into Ui-chan right before I made it to the club room after the concert," he said, "but I didn't see anyone else."

"I left before you and Ui-chan finished," Azusa replied. "I… don't really know why." Her blush had returned in full force.

"Well, no worries," Roy said brightly through the awkward mood that had developed. "Tell ya what," he continued, grabbing the young girl's attention again. "There are some songs we do that require an acoustic guitar and a lead and rhythm guitar. With just the five of us, I have to play the acoustic and Yui plays lead, but there's no rhythm guitarist. On those songs, we'll let you join us. I know it's not much, but –"

Roy's words were cut short as the short girl barreled into him in a tight hug. "That's great!" she cried into his chest as he blushed furiously. "Thank you!"

What happened next surprised everyone. Yui immediately grabbed Azusa around her midsection and flung her away from Roy. The young girl landed unceremoniously on her butt and stared up at the two guitarists. Yui was hugging Roy protectively, not even paying attention to the younger girl.

Azusa picked herself up calmly. "I'm sorry," she said shortly. "I didn't-"

Azusa words were cut short in the same way Roy's had been. She suddenly found herself wrapped in a hug. Yui had quickly crossed the room to hug the girl. "I'm sorry," Yui said softly. "I love Roy-kun; no one else can have him." Azusa blushed.

"I didn't mean anything by it, Yui-senpai," Azusa said after a moment. Yui's eyes lit up immediately and she backed away from the girl a step to stare at her.

"Yui…senpai…" the guitarist repeated blankly. A goofy smile crossed her features as she turned to look at Roy. "Roy-kun, she called me 'Yui-senpai!'" Roy smiled as Ritsu started laughing. Soon the whole room erupted into laughter that carried on for some time. Eventually Roy glanced at the clock on the wall.

"Well, it's almost 4:30, so we need to start heading out of here," he said. "The janitors don't like us to stay late on Fridays, sadly enough," he explained. Yui groaned cutely.

"But I wanna stay and talk with Azusa-chan more!" she complained. Azusa smiled.

"It's okay, Yui-senpai," she young girl said comfortingly. "I'll be in on Monday." Yui calmed down after that.

Sure enough, as everyone was packing their stuff up to leave, a knock came on the door. "We wanna go home, kids," an old voice called from the doorway. "Hurry and get out so we can lock up!"

Roy rolled his eyes at the door. "We'll be out in a minute," he said back. "I swear," he continued, quieter so the janitors couldn't hear, "those janitors are the meanest people on the planet." Mio and Ritsu nodded. "Who applies to be a high school janitor anyway? Who wakes up and says, 'I wanna be a janitor for the rest of my life!'?" Everyone snickered quietly to themselves so as to not alert the janitors to Roy's joking.

After they all made it outside, Yui swatted him on the arm playfully. "That was mean, Roy-kun," she said even though she was still trying not to laugh.

"Well, it's true," Mio said. "Although I don't think anyone plans their whole life to be a janitor. It just sort of happens one day to people who don't get good educations." She stared back at Yui. "That'll be you if you don't start thinking about universities to go to after we graduate, Yui."

Yui looked scared for a moment, but glanced up at Roy before smiling back at Mio. "No problem," she said enthusiastically. "I'll just go wherever Roy-kun goes."

Roy shrugged. "That would work," he said to Mio. "I plan on going to a music college near Tokyo. They're pretty well known around the area, so I figured it would be a good choice." He smiled at the group. "We could all go there and keep the band going."

"That would be great!" Yui squealed.

"Azusa-chan could even go there once she graduates," Mio pointed out. The younger girl smiled as they all kept walking.

"I'll send you all the information later tonight," Roy said. Everyone stopped as the group came up to an intersection. "Yui-chan and I are this way, so we'll se everyone later!" Roy and Yui waved back as they went down a different road from the others.

"It would be really great to keep everyone together forever, huh?" Yui said as she slipped her fingers in between Roy's to hold his hand.

"I don't think we can be together forever, Yui-chan," Roy said, "but I hope we can stay together for a very long time." Yui smiled and leaned her head against his shoulder as they walked.

* * *

A/N: Okay, yeah… so the Thanksgiving chapter didn't happen. And I didn't get a lot of work done over Christmas. Most of this chapter was done after New Years. I apologize so much for taking so long on this, but school was killing me. I head back to my dorm tomorrow, but classes don't stat until Wednesday (currently 12:09 AM Monday morning) so I should have time to get this beta'ed by Comma-chan and on FF . net before I start back to classes.

I promise I'll work more on the chapters while I'm at school from now on. I hate having sent so much time away from this. It definitely (hopefully) won't happen again!

On a side note, I updated some of the stuff on my profile. You can now find a link to download all of the songs used on the album from a few chapters back. And speaking of which, I have plans for many more albums (I have song lists finished for up to 4 more albums!)


	16. Fly Away from Here

O_O Hello peoples. It is I, your… somewhat worried host.

I just watched the 2nd K-On! OVA (if "Winter Days" could be considered the 1st) and the ending matched up WAAAAY too well with chapter 10 of this fic. Considering I wrote that several months ago, and several of the scenes from the OVA match up, I'm worried. Either the writers of the OVA used my fic for inspiration… or my brain patterns were similar to Sawako's… which is an amazingly scary thought either way.

Yeah, it's been a while since I wrote ^that. I'm still kinda concerned with that LOL.

Anywho, I need to start writing. Oh, by the way, I'm basically skipping over chapter 33 of K-On! since I mostly covered that at the end of the last chapter. Just letting everyone know so no one asks why I disregarded it. So this chapter will be the trip to Kyoto.

Usual disclaimers: I don't own K-On! Or any musical instruments represented in this fanfiction.

* * *

Roy smiled brightly as he knocked on the door of his girlfriend's house. It was fairly early in the morning, but the music club was going on a field trip to Kyoto for the next few days, and Roy had told Yui he'd be coming over early in the morning so they could head to the school together. The door opened after a few minutes to reveal a brown-haired girl.

"Good morning, Ui-chan," Roy said plainly. "I'm guessing Yui-chan isn't awake yet."

The younger girl smiled. "Nope, not yet, Roy-kun," she answered. "Just come on in and wait. I'll go wake her up." Roy nodded and sat down on the sofa in the front room while Ui made her way up the stairs.

Roy could faintly hear Ui calling, "Onee-chan wake up! It's morning!" There was silence for a few moments before he heard an ear-splitting screech sound from the top of the stairs and terrified-looking Yui streak down the stairs into his unsuspecting arms. The resulting collision sent both guitarists tumbling onto the floor. Luckily Roy had been able to brace himself so that Yui wasn't hurt… but man his ribs were throbbing now.

"Morning, Yui-chan," Roy groaned softly, making the girl jump slightly. When she turned to look at him, Yui threw her arms around his neck and began sobbing into his shoulder. Just then soft footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs.

"Onee-chan?" Ui called when she reached the landing. Yui quickly jumped up (Roy groaned from the sudden pressure reapplied to his ribs) and pointed an accusing finger at her sister.

"That was mean, Ui!" she cried. The younger girl just laughed.

"It's your fault," Ui had to pause because she was giggling so much, "for not getting up when I said!" Ui dissolved into a desperate fit of giggles and fell backwards onto a cushy chair after that.

"What exactly happened?" Roy asked from his position on the floor.

Yui crossed her arms and huffed angrily. "She told me you were going to leave for the field trip without me." Roy frowned.

"Of course not, Yui-chan," Roy answered, now smiling, "I came by here specifically so we could head to the school together." Yui smiled and hugged him again (Roy groaned).

Yui finally realized she had been hurting Roy and hopped off him and onto the sofa. She helped him sit up and move onto the sofa next to her. "I'm so sorry, Roy-kun!" Yui said quickly. "I didn't realize I had hurt you!"

"It's fine, Yui-chan," he replied. "It doesn't hurt that bad."

"You sure you'll be okay to go on the field trip?" Ui asked. She had apparently regained her composure at some point.

"I think I'll be fine, thanks Ui-chan," Roy replied.

* * *

"Eh? What do you mean I'm not in the group with any of you?" Mio asked. Roy shrugged.

"Nodoka told us to split into groups of four, and you were off in the bathroom at the time," Roy replied, "so we just formed together." He leaned in closer to whisper so the others couldn't hear him. "Besides, this way you don't have to worry about Ritsu and Yui-chan." Mio's eyes lit up at this. "You go have a nice, relaxing trip with Nodoka-chan."

Mio blushed and nodded. "Thank you, Roy-kun," she said before walking back to sit with Nodoka. Roy fell back into his seat and turned to look at the three other members of his group. His face quickly fell.

Yui had dropped a bag of candy on the floor, spilling the contents all over the floor of the bus. Ritsu had taken a pair of straws and shoved them up her nose to make herself look like a saber-toothed tiger. Mugi, to Roy's great surprise, was egging Ritsu on by making loud growling noises.

Roy turned his head up the aisle. _'Mio-chan, Nodoka-chan, save me!'_ he pleaded mentally. The two girls felt a shiver run down their spines.

* * *

((A/N: This is where the Kansai dialect part is, so I need a notice. I'm just going to do this like the translators did. Ritsu adds the Kansai endings, which in this case will be "ya'll." Mugi uses full Kansai dialect which will be Southern U.S. dialect here.))

"We're here!" Ritsu yelled as the group exited the train. Mugi pulled out a small map and Roy looked over her shoulder at it.

"Where are we going first?" he asked.

"The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, ya'll," Ritsu replied, adding the Kansai ending. Mugi and Roy stared at her for a moment.

"What was that?" Roy asked. He didn't know much about the Kansai dialect.

"Since we're in Kyoto, let's play 'speak Kansai dialect only' game… ya'll," Ritsu said excitedly.

Roy frowned. "Eh, but I don't know how to use…." He paused. "What does it matter, just speak normally please." Ritsu laughed as a vein throbbed in the boy's forehead. Yui giggled and patted his arm comfortingly.

* * *

"Ohh… shiny," Roy mumbled as he stared at the shining temple.

"Is the Temple of the Golden Pavilion really built out of gold?" Yui asked.

"Sure is, ya'll," Ritsu answered as Roy sighed. "I don't think they'll notice if we take a bit home with us, ya'll."

'_This is so irritating,'_ Roy thought as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"This here Temple of the Golden Pavilion, ya'll," Mugi said in perfect Kansai dialect, "it got burned back in 1950 and what ya'll see now been rebuilt from nothin'." Everyone stared at Mugi for a moment.

"Well that was strange," Roy muttered.

* * *

_The next day…_

"Today is a free day, so you can go wherever you want!" Sawako said to all of the students. "Please be back at the inn by 6 P.M., okay?"

"I guess we'll visit Arashiyama first?" Mugi suggested. Roy was about to answer when he noticed a distinct quietness in the area.

"Where are Yui-chan and Ricchan?" he asked. Mugi pointed behind to a music store across the street. "Oh for the love of…." Roy stalked across the street and was going to drag the girls back to the group when he felt a small pang in his ribs. "Oof," he moaned lightly. Ritsu and Yui turned around when they heard him.

"Roy-kun," Yui said worriedly. He smiled at the girl.

"I'm fine, Yui-chan," he replied, "really." She still looked worried, but Yui nodded anyway. "Let's join up with- Is that a double guitar?" Roy ran forward and pressed his face against the glass of the music store.

On the other side of the glass was the greatest guitar Roy had ever seen. It had two necks pointing in different directions, one with seven strings and the other with six. The two guitar bodies were joined together just below the strings and pickguards. It was a Michael Angelo Batio replica double guitar.

"I never knew there was a replica made," Roy whispered. "Must have, now yes please." He rushed inside the shop before any of the girls could say any different. By the time they made it inside, Roy was already asking the store clerk about the guitar. As soon as Roy heard the price tag on the guitar, he slowly trudged out of the store back into the street.

"Aww," Yui cooed. "I'm sorry you couldn't buy the guitar, Roy-kun." She wrapped an arm around his shoulder and he leaned his head into the crook of her neck. She giggled when had to sniffle to keep from crying. "Ohh, Roy-kun," Yui cooed as she hugged him tighter. He smiled as they walked down the Kyoto street.

After a little window shopping, a little of buying souvenirs, and a lot of walking, they decided to stop at a fast food restaurant before returning to the hotel. "Uwaah," Yui sighed contently as they sat down. "That was so much fun!"

"I really wanted that guitar, too," Roy mumbled as he sat down next to her. A stray tear rolled down his face as if to prove his sadness. Roy was glad that Ritsu wasn't teasing him about it. _'She probably realized how important that was to me,'_ Roy thought. Mugi stared at him carefully.

"Roy-kun," she said, getting the boy's attention, "if you would like, I could have my father buy the guitar for you." Yui and Ritsu looked stunned, and Roy felt like Chuck Norris had just proclaimed him Lord of the Universes. But Roy quickly thought about it. It just… didn't seem right.

Roy chuckled, causing Yui and Ritsu to send him confused and surprised glances. "Thanks, Mugi-chan," he said sadly, "but I couldn't possibly accept that. It would just be too much."

Mugi smiled. "My family has plenty of money, Roy-kun," she replied. "It wouldn't be a problem." Roy shook his head.

"Money isn't really the problem," he said. "I know you have no problem spending that kind of money, but it's the kind of person my parents raised me to be." He received more confused looks. "It's like this: I would feel bad about the guitar and I would want to get you something in return, but I know you wouldn't accept it, saying basically what you're saying right now. And I would feel worse about the guitar if that happened. So I'd rather just save the trouble and refuse the guitar now."

Mugi smiled. "If you insist," she said.

"And besides," Roy said, "it's not like I would know how to play it. I'm not ambidextrous, so I couldn't use both sides at once like Michael Angelo Batio does."

Ritsu started digging through her pockets now that the slight tension in the air had dissipated. "For some reason I had a ton of money in my wallet today, so I bought all sorts of stuff," she said with a curious expression.

"Yeah, me too," Yui said as she nodded, "I wonder why." Roy sweat-dropped.

"That was money for souvenirs you were supposed to buy for people back home, wasn't it?" he asked dryly. Yui and Ritsu had shocked looks on their faces. Roy sighed, "Don't worry, I bought some extra, expecting something like this to happen." He grabbed a bag near his feet and pulled out a few items while Mugi did the same.

* * *

_That night…_

"Yui-chan?" Roy said in a muffled voice.

"Yes, Roy-kun," Yui answered in a sweet voice.

"You know I love you," he said, still muffled.

"Of course," she replied in the same voice.

"And I know you love me," he continued.

"Yep."

"Then you could please stop attempting to smother me with a pillow in order to keep me here?" he asked politely. Yui lifted the pillow from his face with a sheepish look.

"Sorry, Roy-kun, but I want you to stay in here tonight," Yui said.

"I can't, Yui," Roy answered sadly. "Since we're on this field trip, guys can't sleep over in the girls' rooms." Tears began forming in Yui's eyes and she lunged at Roy, knocking him over. The pillow was once again smashed into his face. Ritsu and Mugi were purposefully ignoring the scene as Sawako opened the door.

"Lights ou-" she started before looking down at Roy's muffled cries of agony and Yui's wailing cries of sadness. Sawako kneeled down in the doorway. "Hirasawa-san?" she asked politely as another teacher walked by. "Could you please let Page-san go? It's time for curfew and boys must sleep in separate rooms."

Yui looked like she wanted to protest more, but she reluctantly released the boy. She gave him one last kiss on the cheek as Sawako ushered him out the door. "'Night, Yui-chan," he said as the door closed.

Sawako led him to where the boys were sleeping. Roy thought for a moment as he set up his sleeping bag. _'I really don't know any other guys here,'_ he admitted. _'I've pretty much stuck with just the Light Music Club and Ui-chan. Otherwise I really haven't made any other friends.'_ A voice near him interrupted Roy's musings.

"Hey, you're the guy in the music club, right?" asked a boy sitting on his sleeping bag to Roy's left. Roy nodded. "That's gotta be cool, hanging out with all of those cute girls all the time. Do you think I could join?"

Roy sighed. "Do you want to join to play music or to 'hang out with cute girls?'" he asked coldly. The boy recoiled as if he had been slapped. He didn't speak again.

Some of the other guys in the large room had heard the exchange, however, and now had their attention on Roy. "Well, it is cool that you play guitar so well," one boy said. "How long have you been playing?"

"About eleven years," he answered. "My dad taught me when I was about six years old."

"Cool, do you think you could teach me when we get back?" another boy asked.

"Me, too," another one said.

"Same here."

Roy looked around. Except for the first boy that had spoken up, the other eight boys in the room were all agreeing, wanting to take guitar lessons from him. He laughed and spoke up, "I don't think I really have time to teach all of you," Roy said to many groans of disappointment, "but I'm sure my dad could probably teach you." There were cheers from the eight boys.

The door slammed open and all ten boys flopped quickly into their beds even though the lights in the room were obviously out. Roy felt a chill run down his spine as Sawako stared at the back of his head. _'That woman is scary,'_ he thought.

* * *

A/N: Wow. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry.

Sorry.

I had no idea I would stop writing for this long. I really didn't mean to. It just sort of happened. But I finally finished it. And just in time. My birthday is tomorrow (May 25) so you all get to wish me Happy Birthday in your reviews.

Oh, if you haven't heard, the songs for K-On! Season 2 are available for download. PM me and I can e-mail you the link if you'd like.

I promise the next chapter won't take as long; I have the next several planned out.

Also, I edited the album I have available on my profile page. Same songs and everything, but I changed the name of the album and band to "Hokago Ti Taimu." I'm gonna be going through the chapters to change the band name to that as well.


	17. Monkey On My Back

Hey all. Starting on this a bit later than I promised myself I would, but at least it's not 5 months.

Before I start the actual chapter, I'd like to inform everyone that the next chapter will be the info for the 2nd album I'm doing for this fic. Which brings me to a question: What would you all rather have? – **cover songs** like I did on the last album or **more original material** from HTT (other than Roy's songs)? I'll be putting a poll up on my profile before I upload this so you can go and vote there. Or just PM/review and tell me what you'd like.

I've ranted long enough, let's get down to business.

Disclaimer: No ownez

* * *

SPLASH!

Roy shivered as the car sped by, kicking up a huge puddle of water all over him. He sighed in relief that his guitar was undamaged and trudged on towards the school. Fortunately he'd remembered to wrap the guitar case in a plastic cover to keep it dry before he left.

He wondered how Yui was doing in this storm. She had called him before he left his house, telling him to just meet her on the way to the school. Roy was halfway to the school now and hadn't seen a glimpse of Yui yet.

'_Of course, it's not like I could see four feet in front of me anyway,'_ Roy grumbled mentally. The rain was falling so forcefully, he couldn't see the end of the sidewalk that he was running along. After a few seconds, however, he could barely make out a very familiar head of light brown hair standing at the crosswalk, waiting to move.

"Yui-chan!" he called as he stopped next the girl.

The smile fell from his face at the sight of his girlfriend. She was soaked from head to toe. It looked like her clothes had soaked in the rain like a sponge, too, because her clothes were hanging heavily on her body. It was no surprise that the rain had gotten to her so bad because she wasn't holding an umbrella. Surprisingly, the guitar case she was carrying, while it didn't have a plastic cover, was completely dry, aside from spots were droplets of rain had fallen.

'_She must have let herself get soaked like this in order to keep the guitar from getting drenched,'_ Roy thought.

"Morning, Roy-kun," Yui said in a depressing voice. Roy frowned and held his umbrella carefully over the girl's body. "Thanks," she said with a weak smile.

"Let's hurry and get out of this storm, okay?" he asked. Yui nodded as the crosswalk light turned green. They jogged across the road and turned onto the next road where the school was just ahead.

* * *

"It just keeps raining," Mio complained as she looked out of the window in the music club room. Ritsu moaned lazily.

"Rainy season just makes you feel sick, doesn't it?" she groaned.

Mio nodded. "When it rains like this, you get wet even with an umbrella," she replied as the door opened.

"Good morning everyone," Yui said in a defeated voice. Roy echoed the greeting.

"Oh, Yui, Roy!" Mio said as she turned. "Totally soaked!" she cried when she saw them. Roy's clothes had gotten soaked in the short distance from the crosswalk because of keeping his umbrella covering Yui. After grabbing a towel, Roy started drying his hair off while Mugi helped Yui with hers.

"Did something happen with you two?" Ritsu asked. "Did you guys fall into a huge puddle?"

"Nothing like that," Yui replied.

"Actually, the puddle kind of fell on me," Roy grumbled as he remembered the speeding car. "Yui-chan was pretty much soaked when I met up her just around the corner. She'd been trying to keep the guitar case dry and ended up getting drenched in the process. I shared my umbrella with her after we met up, but that was just a few minutes ago."

Mio stared at Yui with a dry expression. "You could've wrapped the case in a plastic cover like Roy," she stated. Yui frowned.

"I didn't think of that," she admitted, "but I don't think I have a plastic cover that big anyway." Roy shrugged.

"You could've told me that when you called me earlier," he suggested. Yui laughed.

"Sorry."

"Well, your hair's dry," Mugi said as she removed the towel from the other girl's hair, "but…." Yui's hair stuck up crazily from being messed up so much from the rain and the towel. Roy didn't laugh, but he could hear giggles coming from Ritsu's general direction.

"I think it's a good look for you, Yui-chan," he said with a small smile. The girl blushed and went to give him a kiss….

Only to sneeze in his face.

Roy shivered as he felt the disgusting substance on his face. He quickly wiped his face off with a towel as Mugi said, "If you don't change out of those wet clothes, you could catch a cold!"

"Here," Roy said as he handed Yui a set of clothes. "It's the clothes we wore for the last live performance." He grabbed his set of clothes as well. "I'm gonna go change in the bathroom, so I'll see you all in the classroom in a bit," Roy explained as he left.

Once Roy was gone, Ritsu pushed her chair over next to Yui's and said, "Kinda makes you wonder if Roy's got something he doesn't want us to see, eh?"

The three other girls sweat-dropped and blushed bright crimson. "Of course he does," Mio said hotly, "he's a guy!"

Ritsu walked into their homeroom class nursing a small bump from where Mio had hit her.

Sawako looked up when Yui walked in. "My uniform got wet in the rain," Yui explained, "so I'm wearing this while the uniform dries in the club room. Roy-kun's, too." Sawako nodded and looked back down.

She lifted her head back up as Roy entered a few seconds later. "My uniform-" Sawako cut him off.

"Yui-chan already told me," she said absently. Roy nodded and walked over to his seat.

'_Hope our clothes will be dry after class,'_ he thought.

* * *

"Hey, Azusa-chan," Roy said as the group walked into the club room later. The others echoed the greeting as usual.

"Hey, everyone," the younger girl replied. Roy was surprised to see she wasn't acting as shy as she had before. This was only the second time they had all been in the club room together. "Anyone know why there some uniforms drying in here?" she asked them.

"Oh those are mine and Roy-kun's," Yui replied. "Our uniforms got wet in the horrible rain this morning so we changed and left our uniforms here to dry."

Mugi giggled strangely as the ecchi thought of Yui and Roy changing clothes together filled her mind. Roy cast her a dark look before turning back to Azusa.

"Speaking of which," he said, grabbing his now dry uniform, "I need to go change again. Be right back." He set his backpack down and left the room to go change again.

"I suppose I should change, too," Yui said as she picked up her uniform as well…

Only to look very confused when the clothes were much larger than she remembered. The thought process didn't take long, but the blush on Yui's face was priceless when she whispered, "These are Roy-kun's…."

The girls' responses were cut off as Roy walked in just a second later. He was looking down as he walked and didn't say a word to anyone. As he walked up to Yui, she could see a fierce blush on his cheeks. He dropped Yui's clothes on the back of the chair where they had been and grabbed his uniform before walking back out of the room again.

There was a silence.

"Well, that wasn't strange at all," Ritsu said dryly.

Desperate to remove the awkward tension from the room, Yui quickly got dressed and asked Mugi to cut everyone a slice of cake. A few minutes later, Roy walked in; he'd waited to give Yui plenty of time to change.

"That's pretty impressive, Yui-sempai," Azusa said. "You put yourself at risk of getting sick to protect the guitar!" Yui smiled gratefully and giggled.

"Praise me some more," she said brightly.

"I heard," Azusa continued, "that if the guitar gets wet, mold can grow on the fret board."

Roy noticed that Azusa enjoyed talking about guitars. Mio, on the other hand, did not enjoy talking about mold. At the mention of the word, the bassist flinched.

Ritsu wasn't helping the situation.

"You open up the case and there's mold everywhere…" Roy heard her whisper to Mio just before the taller girl shrieked. Roy sighed. Azusa seemed to be ignoring them, however, as she was still talking to Yui, who was now holding her guitar, the sunburst Les Paul.

"When the neck absorbs moisture it can get warped and the tuning can get messed up," she was saying as Roy turned his attention back to them. "It looks like Japan's climate is bad for guitarists," she mumbled.

"Really?" Yui replied. "Let's check." She played a few chords to test Azusa words before saying, "Wow, you're right! It's off by about a half of a half of a half tone." Roy's eyebrows rose in surprise. Azusa seemed surprised as well.

"What? You know this without using a tuner?" she asked. Yui just nodded and Azusa asked if she could check it out for herself. She took the guitar from Yui and placed her tuner at the end of the head of the guitar and played the same chords that Yui had.

"It's… it's true!" Azusa exclaimed. Roy didn't look as surprised as he had before, but he smiled. "Just like you said, it's off by 1/8 note."

"I've always known you were smarter than you let on sometimes, Yui-chan," Roy said. The girl looked embarrassed for a moment.

"After saying something like that, I'm embarrassed to ask, but…" Yui trailed off as she blushed. "Could you please fix it for me?" Roy nearly facepalmed but agreed to fix the tuning on the guitar.

After the practice, everyone decided to stick around for a while; no one wanted to go out in the heavy rain just yet.

"And the rain just keeps pouring," Ritsu lamented as she stared out the window.

"Yeah, it sure does," Azusa agreed.

"According to the weather forecast," Mugi said, "it will rain tomorrow, too."

Mio looked concerned. "Should I leave my bass in the club room for tonight?" she asked.

Roy was about to answer when Yui nearly shouted into Mio's face, "Mio-chan, this is cruel!" The bassist recoiled; Roy didn't blame her.

"W-what?" she asked, slightly freaked out by the female guitarist's sudden outburst.

Instead of answering, Yui kneeled down next to Mio's bass guitar. "I feel sorry for you, Elizabeth," she said to the instrument as Roy facepalmed. "She has abandoned you."

"I'm only leaving it here because I don't want it to get wet in the rain!" Mio yelled before adding, "And don't just go naming stuff as you please!"

Roy wanted to agree with what Mio was saying, but Yui turned to him before he could get a word out. "And don't you even think about leaving Robbu-kun here!" she said, pointing at his guitar, a Gibson Robot Les Paul.

'_Robbu-kun?'_ Roy thought. _'Really?'_ "It's just for tonight so it doesn't get wet in the rain," he tried to explain. "Or would you rather have to go through getting soaked, changing clothes, explaining to Sawa-sensei, changing clothes again, and re-tuning the guitar all over again?"

Yui calmed down very quickly and shook her head wildly.

"Then it's probably a good idea if you leave your guitar here as well," he offered. Yui visibly paled and was on the verge of arguing when Roy spoke again, "It'll be right here in the morning when you get here."

Yui still didn't look fully convinced, but she gave in and nodded reluctantly. "Okay, I guess I see your point," she agreed.

* * *

"Holy crap!" Ritsu shouted over the storm. "The rain is super heavy!"

"Looks like even our shoes will get soaked," Azusa murmured.

"I'm so worried," Yui groaned. "What if Gitah gets stolen?" Roy draped an arm over his girlfriend's shoulders to comfort her; it wasn't difficult since they were sharing an umbrella again.

"The door to the music room is locked," Mugi said to reassure her, "so it will be safe." Yui looked a little more convinced after that.

"See you tomorrow, everyone," Yui said as she and Roy turned down a separate road from the others.

"Will you be okay, Yui-chan?" Roy asked as they stopped at her house. She nodded. "Call me later, k?" Yui smiled and nodded for giving him a short kiss. She ran inside and shut the door as Roy turned to head towards his own house.

* * *

_Later that evening…_

Roy picked up his phone when he noticed it vibrating against the desk it was sitting on. "Hey, Yui-chan," he said, having seen her name on the screen before answering.

"Roy-kun!" Yui cried desperately.

"What's wrong Yui-chan?" he replied, becoming worried for a moment.

"I miss Gitah!"

Epic facepalm.

'_My forehead can't take much more of this,'_ Roy thought wearily. "It'll be okay, Yui-chan," he tried to reassure the girl. His reply was an incredibly loud noise that could only be Yui beginning to cry loudly. He sighed. He wasn't really annoyed – he loved Yui as much as he could and he could understand; he'd been the same way for a long time after getting his first guitar – but he didn't particularly feel like going out in the rain.

"You want me to come over there for a bit?" he asked anyway. He heard a muffled "yes" and said, "Alright, I'll be over there in a few minutes." He heard a whimper that sounded a little less depressed than before and then a "click" as she hung up.

Even with the rain and darkness of the night, it didn't take Roy long to get to the Hirasawa household. He rang the doorbell and Ui opened the door shortly thereafter. The girl seemed a bit surprised that Roy was there, but understood quickly once he explained that Yui had called him.

"I heard this weird noise earlier," she began telling him as he folded up his umbrella. "I didn't know what it was; it sounded like an eerie scratching. I went to go ask Onee-chan if she could hear it, too. But it turns out Onee-chan was the one making the noise. She was scratching at the wall of her room, mumbling something about her guitar." Roy grimaced. "She clung to me for a little while and cried, but she fell asleep after a few minutes."

Roy looked only mildly surprised. "I think she probably just needed a little comforting," he suggested. "You mind if I go up and see her anyway?" Ui shook her head and Roy began walking up the stairs.

Roy opened the door to Yui's room and peered inside. It was dark, but he could clearly make out the form of his girlfriend on her bed. He noticed that the covers were neatly pulled up near her shoulders. _'Ui-chan,'_ he thought. He shut the door again and walked quietly over to the bed. He sat down on the edge of the bed so that he could see Yui's face.

He reached over and began softly stroking her hair. She smiled and mumbled, "Roy-kun." It was so quiet, Roy thought he might have imagined it, but he blushed at the idea that she was dreaming about him. His mind flashed back to the first time he had ever been in this house, when he was helping her study for finals the year before.

"It feels like it's been such a long time since then," he whispered, not nearly loud enough to wake the girl, "and yet, it also feels like it wasn't that long ago." He smiled and kissed her forehead before getting up to leave.

Roy pulled something bulky from inside his jacket and set it down on the table in her room before leaving. He took one last look back at Yui's sleeping form before stepping out of the room and closing the door behind him again.

He didn't see Yui's eye open, looking at the plastic guitar case cover he'd left her. Yui's smile widened peacefully as she fell into a blissful sleep.

* * *

_The next day…_

Roy smiled happily as he watched Yui lovingly holding her guitar. Even after everything he'd done to reassure her, she'd still been worried and left for school early to check on Gitah.

"You let it out of your hands for just a day," Ritsu noticed, "but would you look at the smile all over your face?" Yui beamed at the drummer as Sawako walked up to Yui.

"This guitar is very precious to you, huh?" she asked sweetly. Yui nodded aggressively. "Well, I understand how you feel," she continued, "but could you please put it away during homeroom period?"

"I don't mind," Yui said happily.

"But I do!" Sawako replied.

When the bell rang to signal the end of classes for the day, Roy noticed Mio heading out of the classroom a lot quicker than normal. He decided to ignore it and left for the club room with the others.

'_It's probably nothing,'_ he thought as Yui happily carried her guitar down the hall.

* * *

Roy turned around in his desk and looked straight ahead. No one else was in the classroom with him.

"Hi, I'm Roy Page," he said in a friendly voice, "and you're the reader of this fanfiction. This is just a reminder from the author for you to check out his profile and vote in the poll for the next album."

"Well… bye then."

* * *

A/N: Nope, that wasn't random in the slightest.

Okay, so maybe it was.

Anyway, yeah, be sure to check out the poll. Or just submit a review or send me a PM, whatever works. I'd like to hear some opinions on what to do for the next album. Also, if you'd like to see the lineup I already have setup for the album, just ask me and I'll send it to you.

I loved how this chapter worked out. The last half of it just flowed really well. Alright, this A/N is more than long enough. The next chapter will be the album chapter, so be sure to vote in the poll!

P.S. Roy's guitar is a Gibson Robot Les Paul, so the name would be something like "Rob" which is Japanified into "Robbu."

P.P.S. 5 days ago (June 2nd) was the 1 year anniversary of this fic! Woot!


	18. Eat the Rich

Woot! Chapter 20! (if you count the two album chapters and don't count the A/N)

I apologize again for the Author's Note in the last chapter. I felt like replying to those reviews as quickly as possible and that was the quickest way possible.

Quick note: Just looked at the Wikipedia article for it, and apparently I've been spelling "sempai" wrong. I've seen many times as both "sempai" and "senpai." Apparently the reason is that the word is pronounced as "sempai" because of Japanese pronunciations, and thus the word is often romanized as such. I'll go back and fix the spelling tonight.

Disclaimer: I no ownez anything. Seriously, I don't have anything to my name right now.

* * *

"It's hotter today than it was yesterday," Azusa sighed. The heat wave had hit the town with full force. Temperatures typically rose into the nineties; today had been over one hundred degrees.

"Playing drums in this heat can kill ya," Ritsu groaned as she slumped back in her seat.

Roy and Mio looked over at Yui, who'd been standing still for some time. "What's wrong, Yui?" Mio asked her. "Haven't memorized that phrase yet?"

As if on cue, Yui collapsed to the floor, moaning, "So-oooo hot…" Her face was flushed and it looked like steam was filtering out from her ears, as if her brains were being deep fried.

"Yui!" Roy and Mio cried as they leaned down next to the girl. They set her on the bench in the club room and laid her head against a pillow set up on the arm rest. Mugi quickly got a towel wet with cold water and placed it on Yui's forehead to help cool her down.

"I wish summer would just be gone," Yui complained weakly.

"And when winter comes, you'll be saying the opposite, right?" Ritsu guessed. Yui smiled sheepishly as Azusa walked up to the bench holding a cup.

"Senpai, here's some water," Azusa offered, handing the cup to Yui.

"Thank you, Azusa-chan!" Yui cried, jumping up to hug the girl and spilling the water in the process.

Roy decided to stop and think for a moment. There were many things that Roy could tolerate without getting angry, probably more than most people. He wouldn't mind if people insulted him; he would just ignore them. He wouldn't mind if someone stole something from them as long they gave it back.

Getting water poured all over his pants was not something Roy was specifically prepared for.

Roy sighed as he looked down at the soaked pants. "Hey, Roy, you wet yourself?" Ritsu called. Roy sighed again and attempted to ignore the drummer.

"I'm sorry, Roy-kun," Yui said sheepishly.

"Me, too. Sorry," Azusa said as well. Roy waved them off.

"Don't worry about it," he told them. _'Though it feels like it's the rainy season again,'_ he grumbled. "I guess I'll call my mom and have her take me home to get a new pair of pants," Roy continued as he grabbed his cell phone from the pocket of his sopping wet jeans. Luckily, the phone still worked fine. "We might as well call off practice for the day; it's too hot…"

"I agree," Mio said.

As Roy began dialing the speed dial number for his mother, he got an idea. He flipped the phone closed to cancel the call and looked up. "Hey, why don't we just practice in the studio at my house?" he asked.

Azusa looked surprised. "You have your own studio?" she asked.

Yeah," Roy replied, "my dad owns and runs the 'Turn the Page' music store in town." Azusa beamed at him. "The building came with an upstairs area furnished for our family to live there comfortably and a studio in the basement."

"I remember the store that was there before," she said. "I bought my Mustang there."

"That sounds like a great idea," Mio said. Mugi and Ritsu nodded their agreement, followed shortly by Yui.

"'K, I'll call Mom then," Roy said, flipping his phone open again and hitting speed dial once more.

"Hey, Mom," he said into the receiver, "are you still at school?" he waited for a reply. "Cool, I accidentally spilled some water on my pants and I need a ride home real quick to change. Also, the club decided it's too hot to practice here at school, so would you and Dad mind if we practiced in the basement studio at the house?" He grinned. "Thanks, Mom. Yeah, see you in a minute." He flipped the phone closed once she had hung up.

"She's going to come by and pick us up," Roy explained. "I think we can all fit in her car, if it's Yui and me in the front with Mio, Ritsu, Mugi, and Azusa in the back. We can fit the guitars in the trunk; there's a drum set and a keyboard there for Ricchan and Mugi-chan." Everyone nodded their approval as the door to the club room opened and Roy's mom stepped in.

"Hi, everyone!" Melissa greeted them. There were scattered replies of "Hello," "Hi," and "Thank You" before Melissa turned her eyes on the newest member of the Light Music Club. "Roy-kun had told me you all had a new member," she addressed Azusa, who blushed. "You must be Azusa-chan. It's very nice to meet you. You can call me Melissa-chan."

"Nice to meet you, Melissa-chan," Azusa replied with a small smile. Melissa nodded.

"Alright, everyone grab your guitars and we'll head out to the car," she said and they left. "You weren't kidding," she told Roy as they walked away from the club room. "It is really hot in there, but why don't you get an air conditioning unit for the club?"

"We don't have the funds," Mio replied, though she thought Mugi's family probably had enough money to buy the entire campus if they wanted to. Melissa just frowned.

"I thought they'd decided at the last meeting of the club presidents and student council that clubs that wanted to buy an air conditioner just had to fill out a request form," Melissa pondered as they stepped out of the building. When she heard the footsteps behind her stop, Melissa turned.

Five angry musicians were glaring at Ritsu. "I forgot to fill out a request form," Ritsu cried, though it did little to abate the others' anger. Melissa laughed as they all turned and continued the walk out to the car.

It had been a tight fit to get everyone into the car, but the moment the group had stepped into the music store and felt the air conditioning, it was like heaven had suddenly come down to earth and situated itself inside that one building. Roy broke himself from the hypnosis of the cool air and woke the rest of the group from their stupors as well. They all headed down the stairs into the studio area so they could practice to their hearts' content.

"You know…" Roy began after about thirty minutes of practice. "Summer's coming up again soon." The girls all nodded. "Are we planning on another training camp this year?"

Mio frowned. "What about exams?" she asked. "As seniors, shouldn't we really be worrying about exams instead of a training camp?" Roy frowned back at her.

"In that case, should we just study instead of practicing?" he replied with a hint of coldness. Mio nearly jumped at the sudden frigid response.

"Of course I didn't mean that," Mio answered quickly. "I just meant that a training camp might be a little more than we have time for right now with exams coming up soon."

Roy smiled at her. "I know; I was just kidding."

Azusa looked at them strangely. "Training camp?" she asked curiously.

Roy looked at her for a moment before saying, "Oh yeah. You just joined so you obviously wouldn't know anything about the training camps we had." Azusa looked a little embarrassed about her lack of knowledge, but Roy continued, "Don't worry about it; I was the same right after I joined. I didn't know anything about the training camp either." Azusa smiled back at him.

"We went to one of Mugi's beach houses the past two years," Ritsu said. "I think we should go to the mountains this time." Yui looked disappointed… to say the least.

"I wanna go to the beach this year, too!" she replied.

Roy tuned them out as Ritsu began explaining why a mountain trip could be just as fun as a beach trip. He turned to Azusa. "What do you think?" he asked her.

Azusa seemed nervous about being asked her opinion on something even though she was the newest member of the group. "Well," she began, "a mountain is a mountain… but how about going to see some live bands perform?"

"That sounds like a great idea," Roy replied, causing Azusa to blush slightly.

"To the mountains, then!" Ritsu cried suddenly. It looked like neither she nor Yui had paid attention to Azusa's suggestion. It was only a moment before Mio lightly rapped the two on the head and explained what Azusa had said.

"But what about tickets?" Ritsu asked. "I think those kinds of things are pretty expensive, yeah?"

Roy cast a wary glance at Mugi, who looked like she was about to speak up before an ominous presence fell over the entire group. Something that felt like paper brushed against Roy's neck as a feminine voice said, "Well, I guess there's no other way. But it's only this one time, okay?"

Everyone turned to see Sawako standing behind Roy. She was holding what looked like seven slips of paper. Upon closer inspection, Roy discovered the slips to be tickets to Summerfest music festival. He stared at the tickets for a moment before calmly looking up at the teacher's face.

"How the hell did you get in my house?" he asked dryly. Sawako's face fell as she glared at the boy. She pointed towards the upstairs area.

"When I went by the club room, no one was there," Sawako replied in a half angry-half sad voice. "I decided to call your mother," she continued to Roy, "and she said you were all here in the studio." She crossed her arms in front of her body with an annoyed huff. "You'd think someone would call me and let me know."

Roy smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, Sensei," he replied. "It was kind of a spur of the moment thing." He didn't feel like explaining the whole story about his pants getting drenched. Goodness knows what Sawako could do with that information.

"But anyway," Roy continued. "This is great. Summerfest sounds like an awesome idea."

"Ohhh," Ritsu groaned, "now I can't wait for summer."

* * *

_The next day…_

"Yui-chan?" Roy spoke into his cell phone.

"Hey, Roy-kun!" Yui replied happily.

"You wanna grab something to eat in town right now?" he asked as he walked down the street.

Roy had been sent by his father to pick up some supplies in town, but Ryan had assured him that is was no rush. Roy decided he would ask Yui out for a kind of mini-date since they hadn't been out together in a while.

"Sorry, Roy-kun," Yui replied. "I'm actually studying right now. If I get distracted, I'll never get back into it."

"I see you took what Mio-chan said about the exams pretty seriously," Roy replied. "That's fine. We can meet up later if you want. Just call me."

"Sure! I'll call later tonight."

"Alright. Bye."

"Bye."

Roy flipped his phone closed.

'_What a surprise. Yui actually studying. I suppose I really shouldn't be surprised, though. After Mio talking about the exams yesterday and that conversation we all had at the start of term about all of us going to the same college, Yui would definitely want to do well in her exams.'_

Roy's thoughts preoccupied his mind as he walked further into the town. He still knew where he was going, but his body seemed to be moving without his conscious thought. On a whim, he decided to call Mio to see if she wanted to get some food. Her house was nearby anyway.

After a moment, Mio picked up the phone, but before Roy could say a word, he heard the bassist yell, "STOP CALLING ME, RITSU!" The call ended with a dial tone as Roy stopped walking.

Clearly Mio was having a bad day and Ritsu hadn't been making it any better. Roy decided he wouldn't bother Mio any further. Ritsu wasn't a good idea to call if she was in a mood to upset Mio like she apparently had.

Roy thought about calling Azusa, but he still didn't really know the younger girl that well. There was also the fact that she seemed to have developed a small crush on him despite his dating Yui. Calling asking Azusa out probably wouldn't be a good idea.

He was just getting ready to dial the numbers to call Mugi when a voice behind him yelled, "BOO!"

Roy jumped nearly two feet in the air and the phone fell from his hand in mid-flight. A hand caught the phone before it could hit the ground (and probably break). Roy turned to find Mugi standing there, smiling as bright as he had ever seen her. She handed the phone back to him as he caught his breath.

"Geez, Mugi-chan," Roy said as his heart rate returned to normal. "What was that about?" Mugi just giggled.

"I saw you walking down the street," she answered, "so I decided to follow you and scare you when you least expected it." Roy smiled.

"Well, as a matter of fact, I was just about to give you a call," Roy said. Mugi titled her head to the side a little and have him a curious look. "The others are all busy right now, and I wanted to get something to eat. I was about to call to ask you." Roy looked at her. "You're not busy, are you?"

Mugi had taken a few steps away and pulled out her own cell phone. She was speaking to the person on the other in a hushed voice that had a hint of a commanding tone. Roy caught a few words from Mugi's side of the conversation.

"That thing today…. Cancel it…. Yes…. Some other day….." She quickly turned back towards him as she flipped the phone closed again.

Roy took a step back as the girl rushed up to him very excitedly. "I'm free!" she said in an almost pleading voice. "I have absolutely nothing to do!" Roy eyed her skeptically.

"You sure?" he asked. "I can go by myself if you need to be somewhere." Mugi shook her head furiously.

"I can go with you."

Roy was about to say that she should probably stick to her family commitments, but Mugi's smile stifled any words that he could've said.

"Alright, let's go then," he said after a moment.

* * *

After getting a quick bite to eat, Roy and Mugi walked around the town for a bit. Roy was curious as to why Mugi hadn't left to take care of her other business after eating. He had just wanted company while eating; an all-afternoon excursion was not what he'd had in mind.

These thoughts were forced from his mind as his body was suddenly pulled to his right. Roy found himself inside of a rather large one-floor building that had a bunch of video game cabinets, pinball machines, pool tables, and "prize-grabber" games.

"I've never been to a video arcade before," Mugi said happily. She smiled at him. "I wanted to try it just once." Roy laughed.

"Well okay. I don't have to be anywhere right now either."

They started walking around the arcade. After a moment Mugi spotted the prize-grabber machine and ran over to try it. After a moment of confusion, Mugi turned back to look at Roy. "It says the game run on tokens," she said. "Where do I get tokens?"

Roy nearly chuckled as he looked around for a token exchange machine. He spotted one and pointed the girl over to it. Mugi was only gone for a moment, and she came back still holding the bill in her hand.

"They don't accept bills this large, apparently," she said indignantly. Mugi held up the bill in her hand and Roy nearly choked on nothing when he saw the ¥10,000 note.

"Mugi-chan," he said after a moment, "of course they don't accept bills that high. Most people won't carry around ¥10,000 notes."

"Then how am I supposed to get tokens?" Mugi asked as she opened her wallet to reveal at least twenty more of the same bills.

Roy nearly fainted. His family was pretty well off, but they were nowhere near carrying around ¥200,000 in public, let alone letting Roy carry that much.

"The lowest amount I have is a ¥5,000 bill," Mugi said after searching through her wallet for a moment, "and they won't take those either."

"Go cash in the ¥5,000 bill for some smaller bills," Roy suggested. "That way, you'll have small enough bills that you can get some tokens."

Mugi nodded and set her face in a rather determined stare as she walked up to the cash register. She came back a few moments later blushing furiously. _'I suppose she's never had to cash in money for smaller bills before,'_ Roy mused.

When Mugi finally had some tokens, she stuck one into the prize-grabber and quickly won a stuffed bear toy. She practically squealed with glee and hugged the bear tightly. Roy laughed as they moved on further into the arcade.

Something caught Roy's eye as they walked and he turned to find a cabinet for a _"Guitar Hero Arcade Version"_ game. Roy knew all about the _Guitar Hero_ games, of course, but he hadn't played them a whole lot. He borrowed a few of the tokens from Mugi (who didn't seem to care since she had gotten several dozen tokens) and started the game up.

Roy quickly picked up the plastic guitar controller and pulled the strap over his head. He picked a song. As the game loaded up "Surfing with the Alien" by Joe Satriani, Roy steeled himself. He knew that the game would be totally different than playing a real guitar.

He also knew that Joe Satriani was not one to toy around with a guitar.

After three seconds of playing the song, Roy decided that starting on the "Expert" difficulty had not been a good idea. The song ended after he failed. Roy blushed and desperately attempted to ignore the giggled coming from behind him. Roy chose the song again, electing to play the song on the "Hard" difficulty instead.

This choice ended up much better than he his previous attempt and Roy finished the song a few minutes later and sighed in relief. His left hand was cramping up a bit from the song; it had still been fairly difficult for someone not used to the controller. Somehow the cartoonishly-colored buttons on the controller were more difficult to use that actual guitar strings.

"You wanna try, Mugi-chan?" Roy asked the girl. "My hand is cramping; I don't think I can play anymore." Mugi nodded and accepted the guitar after he'd taken the strap off. She picked the same song Joe Satriani and chose the "Expert" level. "Uh, Mugi-chan, I don't think-"

Roy's voice was lost amidst the sounds coming from the game cabinet as Mugi began the song, hitting every note perfectly. His jaw fell a little bit. When the song was over, a flashing "100% Notes hit!" appeared on the screen and Mugi's other stats during the song were displayed as well.

"What were you saying, Roy-kun?" Mugi asked innocently. Roy swallowed.

"N- nothing," he mumbled.

* * *

By the time he and Mugi left the arcade, Roy was beginning to get hungry again so he suggested they stop again for some food before heading to their respective homes. Mugi agreed and they stopped at a small restaurant.

"What do you think of the Summerfest thing, Mugi-chan?" Roy asked.

"I think it should be really fun," she answered in between very controlled, almost _dainty_, bites from her cheeseburger. "My father actually owns the area where the festivities will be held."

Roy coughed and sputtered. "Your father owns all of it?" he asked after a moment. Mugi just nodded, smiling as if she hadn't just dropped a small bombshell on him. "That's pretty cool," Roy finally managed to say.

He thought for a moment. _'If Mugi's father owns all of that land, he could probably get us good places to keep our tents and stuff; we wouldn't half to sleep on a hill or something. We might even be able to stay in a vacation house near there.'_ A brilliant idea struck Roy at that moment.

"Mugi-chan," he said to get the girl's attention even though it seemed like she had never looked away from him. "Do you… Do you think your father could get an opening for us to play there?"

For the first time Roy could ever remember, Mugi's eyebrows shot up. "I could ask," she replied. "I don't think there would be a problem. There's usually one opening every year for last minute entries. I could ask father to get us in that spot."

Roy grinned. "That's great. I think it would be a great experience for everyone to play live in a setting like that." Mugi nodded. "Not that the school festivals are too small, but a huge crowd like Summerfest… that could launch a major career." Mugi nodded once again.

They talked over what minor details of the performance they could with their limited knowledge of the event for a while. The two eventually returned to their food, but Mugi looked nervous; she was fidgeting a little in her seat and was glancing at Roy every few seconds as if she had something to say.

"Today was a lot of fun, Roy-kun," Mugi finally said after about a minute of stealing glances at him. "It… it almost feels like we've been on a date all day."

Time stood still for a moment as Roy took in what he'd just heard.

Roy finally coughed.

"Mugi-chan…." Roy started, but couldn't say anything else. He had no idea what to say to something like that.

Mugi giggled a little and looked down at the table. "We all see you and Yui-chan together all the time," she said dejectedly. "I suppose it's only natural we would want a relationship like that, too." She smiled at him after a moment. "I'm sorry, Roy-kun. Please forget I said that."

'_Easier said than done,'_ Roy thought. "Listen, Mugi-chan," he said. "It's not that-" Mugi held up a hand to stop him.

"Don't worry about it," she said in a voice that begged him once again to forget about it. Roy nodded.

Roy still felt a little tension in the air as he and Mugi walked out of the tiny restaurant. It wasn't a thick tension, but he could still feel it there. As they came to an intersection, Mugi stopped and looked at him.

"Thank you for spending the day with me, Roy-kun," she said. "I know it wasn't what you had in mind when we met up earlier, but it was very fun." She smiled at him. "And don't worry about what I said earlier. Even if I did like you enough to go after you, I wouldn't hurt Yui-chan like that."

She was gone before Roy had a chance to reply. _'That girl…'

* * *

_

_Later that night…_

"So what did you end up doing today, Roy-kun?" Yui asked into her cell phone.

"Actually, I met up with Mugi-chan in town," he replied. "We got a bite to eat and went to an arcade. Did you know Mugi's really good at _Guitar Hero_? I wonder if she's ever thought about trying out a real guitar?"

"Then what?" Yui asked.

"Well, by the time we left the arcade, I was hungry again. We stopped by another small restaurant, and…." Roy stopped, not actually wanting relate what Mugi had said. "And then we both went home," he finished quickly.

"Sounds like Roy-kun and Mugi-chan had a date!" Yui said playfully. When Roy didn't laugh or make any sort of response, Yui frowned even though he couldn't see her. "Did something else happen, Roy-kun?"

"Nope," he answered quickly. "Gotta go. Love you, 'night."

* * *

A/N: Wow. Just about nine full pages in MS Word. With the opening and ending notes, I'm over nine pages already.

I gotta say I enjoyed writing this one. Everything just flowed really well after Roy and Mugi met up. Yeah, I combined chapters 36 and 37 from the manga because 36 wasn't enough for its own chapter.

Next chapter is Summerfest, and I bet everyone can see what's gonna happen by now! Big surprise for the rest of the band!

¥10,000 = approximately $111.86

¥5,000 = approximately $55.93


	19. Make It

Summerfest! WHOO!

Okay, now that that I have that out of my system.

Wow, I really don't have anything to say about this one. Other than I typoed like five times while writing this A/N. Maybe writing isn't such a good idea right now…

This will be a mix between the Summerfest stuff and the info for a live album. The album will be available for download on my profile once the chapter is up. I'd suggest you check it out; there's some good live versions of songs on there. At the same time, I apologize in advance for the quality of some of the songs; they were the best I could find.

Disclaimer: Yeah, I don't own the rights to anything, especially the songs mentioned here.

* * *

"Bye Mom. Bye Dad. We'll see you guys in a few days," Roy said with a wink as he and Yui walked out of the house. They were packed to leave for the Summerfest trip and Sawako was picking them all up in her car. Yui said good-bye as well as they left.

"What was that wink about?" Yui asked as they walked to the car.

"Oh, nothing…" Roy said dismissively.

Ryan Page sighed. "This kid's gonna kill me," he said to his wife once the two young guitarists were out of earshot. "Making us take all their instruments up to the mountain for a surprise live performance… Not to mention he wants us to take the recordings and make a live album for the band to release with it. I swear he's gonna give me gray hairs before I'm forty-five."

Melissa Page patted her husband's shoulder thoughtfully. "It'll be alright, Ryan," she said. "You were all crazy about your first band, too, if I recall."

He just nodded. "Yeah…" Ryan's eyes glazed over and an empty expression came across his face.

'_Oh great,'_ Melissa though, _'I went and reminded him of the past. Now he's just gonna sit there and remember the "good old times" until goodness-knows-when. Well, At least I can start getting stuff together without him being in the way.'_

Amazingly, Roy had planned out the entire weekend for everyone. The first day, the kids (and Sawako) would attend the festival like normal spectators. On the second day, Roy and the group would play on the stage that he and Mugi had requested to be opened just for them. He was sure it was going to be an awesome surprise for the others.

Summerfest only lasted two days, but Roy was gunning on everyone remembering it for the rest of their lives.

* * *

"Well, we're here," Sawako said to the group as the car stopped.

"Wow," the band chorused.

"It's pretty nice that you had those tickets, eh?" Ritsu said to Sawako as they exited the car.

"I go to this concert every year!" the teacher replied in a voice that implied they should all be very impressed with her.

"But how come you had all those extra tickets?" Roy asked, immediately destroying Sawako's pompousness.

"I was supposed to go with some friends," she replied, "but they all decided to cancel for one reason or another."

Mio and Ritsu began removing everyone's tents from the back of the car, but Roy stopped them. "Actually, Mugi-chan and I have a surprise for everyone," he said loud enough for all of them to hear. "Her father actually owns all of this land and she convinced him to let us stay in a vacation house that's just a short walk away from the main stage area."

There were several cries of surprise and one specific shout of thankfulness from Mio that she wouldn't have to sleep on the ground (even if it was in a tent).

"What are we standing around here for, then?" Sawako said. "Lead the way, Mugi-chan!" Mugi just nodded and they all headed off to the vacation house.

The house wasn't quite as large as Roy had expected it to be (he'd been expecting something similar to the villas they had stayed in during the previous summer training camps). It was large enough to house seven people very comfortably, though, and that was all that mattered. _'And by tomorrow it'll house nine people,'_ Roy thought.

Once everyone's luggage and supplies had been taken into the house and everyone was ready, they all headed back to the main stage area. According to the schedule of performances (which conveniently left the slot Mugi had reserved for them as just "Unknown New Band") the band that was set to perform on the stage they were waiting at was going to begin in about ten minutes.

"Everyone, we have to go!" Sawako said about twenty minutes into the band's performance.

"Huh?" Azusa said.

"I wanna listen some more," Yui complained.

'_Well, at least she's more enthusiastic about music now,'_ Roy mused.

"A must-see band is playing on Stage "B," the teacher said, looking like she was about to sprint to the other stage.

"Why don't you just go by yourself, sensei?" Roy suggested. "I'd like to stay and listen to this group for a while." The others nodded their approval as Sawako left, grumbling under her breathe the whole way.

About twenty minutes later, Roy looked to his left and realized Azusa was staring rather intently at Yui. Yui was, in turn, staring at the band playing on the stage.

"What's up, Azusa-chan?" Roy asked. The girl jumped slightly as if she hadn't been expecting him to speak to her. She leaned forward so she could talk around the still oblivious Yui.

"Yui-senpai is enraptured by the performance," Azusa explained. "I wish she would be this serious about practicing."

Roy glanced over at Yui for a moment. "Well, she is a lot better about that than when I joined," he said, "but I understand what you mean. I practically yelled at the others the first time we all sat down for a tea party." There was a pause. "Very little of that sentence sounded manly at all…." Azusa giggled as Yui finally spoke up.

"How do you think the bassist gets his hair to stand up like that?" she said in a very serious voice.

Roy facepalmed and Azusa sweatdropped. "Yui-senpai," Azusa groaned. Roy chuckled and turned to look to his right where Mugi, Ritsu, and Mio were.

"This band's guitarist is a lefty!" Mio was saying excitedly to a rather annoyed-looking Ritsu.

"It's not quite as rare as you'd think," Roy said. "Remember, my dad's a lefty." Mio took a thoughtful expression for a moment.

"Oh, right," she finally said.

* * *

"We still have some time before the next band's performance," Ritsu told them all.

As if on cue, Yui's stomach began grumbling with hunger, followed shortly by Roy's.

"Okay then," Mio said, "I'll go buy lunch."

"I want yakisoba," Ritsu said.

"Me, too," Yui agreed.

"Same," Roy supplied.

"I've always dreamed of eating yakisoba in a place like this," Mugi said dreamily as Mio walked away to retrieve the food.

"That's… a rather sad and pathetic dream, Mugi-chan," Roy said. The blonde just laughed and smiled.

It seemed like Mio was going to be a few minutes in getting the food – the line was fairly long – Ritsu and Azusa decided to take a blanket and set it on the ground for them all to sit on while they ate. Yui decided to help by jumping onto the blanket while it was still in the other girls' hands. Due to the unbeatable laws of gravity, Yui and the blanket plummeted the short distance to the earth below.

Roy, Azusa, and Ritsu all looked down at the girl for a moment. A second later, Yui let out a soft moan and reached down to settle her stomach.

"If you didn't want to get hurt," Ritsu said forcefully, "You shouldn't have jumped on the blanket." Yui nodded as Mio returned.

In her hands, Mio held not only six servings of yakisoba, but also a CD case. Roy smiled as he recognized the cover art on the case.

"Guys, they had our album for sale!" Mio said excitedly. "This one and the one we just released."

"Woah, that's cool," Ritsu said impressively as she ate some of the noodles. "I wonder how they could do that, though."

"What do you mean?" Roy asked warily.

"Well, wouldn't they need our permission to sell the album?" Ritsu asked. "Or at least your father's permission since he published it."

"I think he had mentioned something about letting them sell the album," Roy lied. "He said it would be good publicity; get more people listening to it. It also helps that Mugi's dad owns the place." Ritsu accepted the explanation and continued eating.

Roy sighed. _'That was close,'_ he thought. _'Dad got the deal to sell our albums only because we're performing tomorrow, but I don't want them to find out about that just yet.'

* * *

_

_Later that night…_

"Yui-senpai?"

Yui turned her head and saw Azusa walking towards her. She was sitting on the bottom step of the stairs that led to the front door of Mugi's vacation house. She had been sitting in the steps for about twenty minutes, listening to the music coming from the main stage that wasn't very far away.

"Ah, Azusa-chan," Yui said.

"What are you doing out here?" the younger girl asked.

Yui giggled. Azusa had gotten sunburnt during the day and was tanned all over… or at least all over what was visible in her loose T-shirt and pants. "I was listening to the music from the main stage," Yui replied, pointing towards the stage that was visible from the house. With it being so close to the house, the workers had decided to face the stage away from the house so that people sleeping there wouldn't be disturbed. The music could still be heard from the front steps, though. "They are still playing, even in the middle of the night, huh?"

Yui patted a spot on the steps next to her, motioning for Azusa to sit down. The younger girl looked hesitant for just a second before sitting down. The two guitarists sat in silence for a while before Azusa finally spoke up.

"Yui-senpai," she said. "What's it like dating Roy-senpai?"

Yui blushed. "Well, it's-"

"Gossiping about me?" Roy asked, leaning over between the two girls. Yui and Azusa both jumped a little, surprised by his sudden appearance. "So, Yui-chan," Roy continued, "what's it like?"

"It's like…" Yui began. "It's like being with myself… if my other self was a boy."

Roy just laughed, but Azusa just blushed a little. "Well, I suppose I should take that as a compliment," Roy said. "I love you enough to date you for over a year now and you say I'm like you so I guess that's a good thing." Yui smiled and nodded.

"What are you all doing our here?" Ritsu asked as she opened the front door to the house. "Having a private conversation?" Roy could see Mio and Mugi standing behind the drummer.

"Not really," Roy said. "Just talking."

Ritsu, Mio, and Mugi all took seats on the steps. Once everyone stopped talking, the music from the main stage could be heard and it was like they all agreed not to speak for a while as the music played.

After a while, the music finally stopped. "Today was great, huh?" Mio asked no one in particular.

"It was all amazing," Mugi said.

"I think we're pretty amazing, too," Yui said, drawing a few surprised looks from the other girls. Roy didn't look surprised, though.

"Yeah, we are," he agreed.

"I suppose it would be pretty great to come back here and play a concert next year," Ritsu said.

"Yeah, let's agree on it," Mio said energetically. "Next year, we'll all come back here and play a great live concert for Summerfest." Mio, Ritsu, Azusa, and Yui put their hands together to agree on it, but Roy and Mugi hung back.

"Roy? Mugi?" Mio asked.

"Actually, you won't have to worry about performing here next year," Roy said, confusing the girls more. "We're performing tomorrow."

There was a pause….

Followed by, "WHAT?" coming from four different voices.

"Mugi-chan and I had it all worked out," Roy said. "Right after Sawa-sensei gave us the tickets, I came up with idea that a huge live concert like Summerfest would be great for us."

"I talked to my father," Mugi explained. "He agreed to reserve the slot for the "Unknown Band" on tomorrow's line-up for us. That's also why they were selling our albums earlier. Only bands who are playing here at Summerfest can sell their merchandise."

By now the other four girls were staring at Roy and Mugi with wide eyes and their mouths hanging open. There was a soft rumbling sound in the distance that seemed to be getting louder and/or drawing closer to them.

"But… but… but…" Mio managed to mumble.

"What about our instruments?" Yui finally said, still looking dumbstruck.

"Not a problem!" an older voice called. Everyone looked up at the driveway that led up to the house. Stepping out of a small moving van was Ryan Page. "Got everything right here!" he continued, motioning to the storage area of the van.

Melissa stepped out from the passenger side of the van and looked at them. "Tomorrow's going to be big day," she said. Roy smirked at the faces of his friends. Except for Mugi, the dumbstruck looks on their faces were even worse than they had been a minute ago.

"This is gonna be our big break, guys," Roy said calmly.

* * *

_The next day…_

"I'm really nervous," Yui said.

"I know, I feel the same way," Azusa said.

"Same here," Ritsu said.

"I think we'll be great," Roy said positively, "right, Mugi-chan?"

"Of course," she answered.

"Has anyone seen Mio?" Ritsu asked.

They all looked around the backstage area where they were waiting for their performance time. It wasn't much: there was a sofa and some refreshments on a table, but the area was only enclosed by curtains that didn't really drown out the cheering coming from the crowd outside.

"There she is," Roy said, pointing behind the couch, where Mio was huddled over in the fetal position. She was very clearly wracked with nerves about performing in front of a crowd this huge. The school festival was one thing… this was Summerfest.

"Mio-chan," Roy said as he and the others walked over to her. "Everything's gonna be okay. Don't worry about it."

Mio looked up at him. "I'm not so worried about the performance itself," she said. "I'm worried I'm gonna trip on the stage again." Roy looked confused and shot a questioning look to Ritsu.

"The first time we did a live at the school festival, before you joined," Ritsu began, "Mio tripped as she was leaving the stage. When she tripped, her…underwear was in plain view for the entire crowd to see." Roy flushed deep crimson. Ritsu whispered, "Mio's expecting that to happen again; if it happens in front of a huge crowd like this, she'd die of embarrassment."

"You don't have to worry about that, Mio-chan," Roy assured her. "The crew here made sure all of the cords are out of the pathway leading from the microphones to the off-stage area here. There's no way you can trip."

Mio brightened up. "All right," she said. "Just give me a minute to compose myself."

"No problem," Ritsu said.

They all walked back to where they had been standing before. Mio joined them a moment later and they all waited in silence.

It seemed like hours later that the cheers finally grew louder and a voice called out, distorted by the microphone, "And now!" The voice had to pause because of the deafening increase in applause. "Now we have a band playing their first Summerfest!" The crowd roared again. "Please welcome… 'Hokago Ti Taimu!'"

Roy almost expected the crowd to stop and give the announcer curious looks for the band's name, but the applause was even greater than it had been just seconds ago as all six of them walked onto the stage.

"Hello, Summerfest!" Roy called into his mic as he reached the spot where he was supposed to stand. The crowd roared their reply. Their audience wasn't nearly as large as what they had all been caught up in at the main stage yesterday, but it was definitely a larger audience than the school festivals.

Without wasting any time, the band shot right into their first song, an instrumental piece that Roy had written specifically for this concert. As the song finished, the crowd roared. The band didn't wait, however, and jumped right into their next song.

When Ritsu hit the first few beats to "Cagayake! Girls," the crowd roared even louder than before. Yui sung through the opening chorus and yelled out, "Konnichiwa!" to the screaming audience before starting the first verse.

The crowd cheered again as the song ended. "Hello Summerfest!" Roy cried again. "We are Hokago Ti Taimu!" Cheers rose up again. "My name is Roy Page! To my left is the lovely and talented Hirasawa Yui. To her left is our newest member, Nakano Azusa. To my right we have Akiyama Mio. On drums is Tainaka Ritsu, and finally, we have Kotobuki Tsumugi on keyboard!" The crowd cheered once more before Roy stepped back. "Thank you!"

The applause died down after a moment as Roy stepped back up to his mic. "Thanks so much everyone," he said. "This is our first live in front of such a huge crowd." He paused again for the cheers and applause to fade. "We'll be playing some original stuff, like you just heard, written by our very own Akiyama Mio." Another pause. "And we'll also be doing some covers. We've got some Japanese songs and I'll be doing some covers of American rock songs. In fact, why don't we start things off with a little down home southern rock?"

The band played "Gimme Three Steps" by Lynyrd Skynyrd followed by "Fudepen ~Ballpen~" and "Cities on Flame with Rock & Roll" by Blue Öyster Cult.

"Are you guys ready?" Mio asked the crowd as the song finished. Roy was a little surprised since she had been cowering in fear about half an hour ago. After hearing the crowd's screams, Mio finally said, "Good, cause we have a 'scandal' for you!"

The next song was "BEAUTeen!" by SCANDAL, which explained Mio's comment. Following that was "Watashi no Koi wa Hotch-Kiss." Both of the songs were clearly big hits with the crowd because they both featured duet vocals by Yui and Mio.

From the first sound of the synth of "Jump" by Van Halen, the crowd was literally jumping. Roy gave a small jump every time he said "Jump!" during the song just like Eddie Van Halen did. Roy was laughing as the song ended.

"We got a little something special for you now," Roy said. "Yui-chan hasn't been informed of this yet, but we're going to have a little guitar duel right here on the stage for all of you." The crowd roared once again. "I'll go first, Yui-chan. We'll go back and forth. Just play whatever you feel."

After a few minutes of soloing back and forth, Yui and Roy finally stopped. "All right, who do you think won?" Mio called out. "Roy?" The crowd cheered louder than ever. "Or Yui?" Roy took a step backward as the roar hit him. "Well, I think it's pretty clear that Yui won. Sorry Roy."

"No problem," Roy said with a bright smile at his girlfriend. "That was pretty fun. But we're not done yet."

The next song was "Tsubasa o Kudasai." At the end of the song, Mugi held her last note on the keyboard while Roy exchanged his guitar for an acoustic, building up into the intro of "Long Time" by Boston. Roy and the others had elected to forego the opening track, "Foreplay," since it wasn't very interesting for a live performance in their opinion.

The next two songs were "Jam" by YUI and "Band on the Run" by Wings. Roy stayed on his acoustic guitar for both of the songs, letting Yui play lead guitar and Azusa play the rhythm. Roy had already been switching to rhythm anytime he wasn't singing (or playing an instrumental). Azusa had been adding in some jazz rhythm backings.

Roy changed his guitar out once again as they began "Sweet Bitter Beauty Song."

"We're almost done," Roy said after the song was over. "We just have a few more for you."

The band played "Train Kept a Rollin'" by Aerosmith. "For our final song, we have a little present from Eddie Van Halen." The final song was "316," a full guitar solo instrumental that incorporated parts of several different Van Halen songs including "Mean Street," "Spanish Fly," "Cathedral," and "Eruption."

"Thank you Summerfest!" Roy said as the crowd cheered them off the stage. Already there were numerous shouts of "Encore!" coming from the massive audience. After waiting about two minutes, Roy realized the calls of "Encore!" were getting louder and more numerous.

"I think we only have one choice," Roy told the band in the backstage area. "We have to play an encore. Besides, there's one song we haven't played yet." They all shared a knowing look and walked back out to the stage to tremendous applause from the audience.

Once all six of them had reached their positions again, they waited for the roar of the crowd to subside. Finally, in near silence, Yui cried out, "Fuwa Fuwa Time!" As the band played, Roy felt like he was back at the school festival right before Azusa joined again. Just like that festival, the band played the final chorus again.

As he walked off the stage for the last time, Roy felt sure that the main stage, even though it was about two minutes (walking distance) away from the stage they were at, could hear the crowd here roaring, cheering, and applauding.

* * *

A/N: That's done now. Sorry for the repeated banter. I figured a concert like that would be boring without a little conversation from the band. I hope you all enjoyed my horrible text version of a live concert here. Having never been to a concert (rock concert anyway) I wouldn't really know a whole lot about it.

Also, I decided to separate this chapter from the actual album info since that would actually work better in my mind. If I were reading this story, I would prefer to have it separate. So the album info will be up right after this chapter goes up. It'll contain some notes about the songs I included in the downloadable album available on my profile.

Also, one last thing. I know I don't normally use Japanese words, but when Yui yells out "Konnichiwa" during "Cagayake! Girls," that's because that's actually on the song. I have a live version of it (performed by the K-On! seiyuu) and it had that on there. I didn't think it would sound as epic if it was just "Hello!"


	20. Cryin'

So here we are. This is gonna be rough on me since I won't have the manga for an outline, but I'll try my hardest. I already have some of the major stuff worked out. I just need to get through all the filler to get there.

I might also be going ahead to upload the lists I have for all 10 of the albums I have made for this fanfic (yeah, I got kind of obsessed with making albums a while back). That includes 7 regular albums and 3 live albums. Obviously, I've already posted 2 regular albums and 1 of the live albums here, but I figure I can go ahead and post everything and then I'll do the chapters for them when I get to a good point.

My 3rd "studio" album for BNP will probably go up after this arc in America, so it might actually be 2-3 chapters before that's up. The 3rd album is definitely one of my favorites because I added some great music on there, and not just HTT stuff either.

This A/N is way too long…

Disclaimer: Don't own rights to K-On! I wish I did so it wouldn't be taken down from every manga site I go to, but I can't help that YenPress are a bunch of pricks.

* * *

"You sure it's all good with your parents and Ui-chan?"

"It's fine, Roy-kun," Yui replied.

"Just making sure," he said. "I'm pretty sure my parents wouldn't want to get arrested for allegedly kidnapping you. Not one hundred percent sure, but I'd say it's a safe bet."

Yui giggled. "I talked to them about it last week. They said I should go with you and have a great time." She smiled at him, watching him pack the last few things into his suitcase. "And Ui-chan told me she'll be fine by herself. She was actually planning to stay over with Azusa-chan or Jun-chan for most of the time while we're gone."

Roy nodded as he zipped up the suitcase. "Alright then." He hefted the suitcase up by the handle and carried it downstairs where Yui's and his parents' suitcases were already sitting. "Are we ready to go then?" Roy asked his father.

"Just making sure we got everything now," Ryan replied. "All the lights are off; answering machine set; Hanako-san from next door will keep our mail for us; all guitars are secured and ready for transport." He made a check on the paper list he was holding for every item. "Looks like we're all set to go."

Roy smiled and walked outside where the Light Music Club (plus Ui) was waiting to see them off. "Well, we're all ready to go," Roy said to them. "Thanks for coming to see us off, everyone." Roy and Yui walked around and hugged every person at least once (Sawako deliberately tried to hug Roy several times) and they all said their good-byes.

"You will call once you make it there, right?" Mio asked as they walked towards Ryan's truck. Roy nodded. "You'd better," she said seriously before smiling at him. "We'll see you in two weeks."

"Bye everyone!" Roy and Yui called as they got into the back seat of the truck. Ryan and Melissa said their good-byes as well and then drove off.

"Aright," Roy said excitedly, "next stop: America!" Yui cheered along with him.

"Actually, next stop is the airport," Ryan said from the driver's seat. "It would be rather difficult to go straight to America in the truck."

* * *

"So what do you think, Yui-chan?" Roy asked. They were sitting next to each other on the plane bound for America. It had been at least an hour (Roy hadn't checked his watch for the exact time) since they'd left the Page household. The flight had taken off on schedule and they were now in the air. "Should we try to come up with some new song lyrics or just relax the whole way?"

Yui smiled. "I think we should try to make some lyrics and then we can relax," she replied. "You first, any ideas?"

"Well, I've never been much for writing lyrics," Roy admitted, "but I suppose I could give it a try first." Roy spent a few moments writing on the paper in front of him (the tray from the seat in front of him was folded down). After about ten minutes had passed, Roy finally set his pencil down and handed the paper to his girlfriend. "So? How is it?"

Yui tried her hardest not to laugh. "I'm sorry, Roy-kun," she said. "These are horrible lyrics." Roy's face fell. "The words are fine, I mean," Yui added quickly, "but there's just really no feeling in them like when Mio-chan writes them." Roy nodded and looked back up.

"Yeah, I understand." He smiled again. "Okay, your turn then." Yui nodded back and set to work.

_'I should try to write about something I feel strongly about,'_ Yui told herself. _'Well, I definitely feel strongly about Roy-kun, but I don't think I could ever express that in words.'_ Yui sighed, causing Roy to glance at her, but he made no other response. _'I miss Ui already. She could help me if she were here…'_

It took a moment before that thought fell into place.

_'I should write about Ui!'_ Yui finally thought.

Fifteen minutes later, Yui pushed against Roy's shoulder to wake him up from the daze he had fallen into. "Roy-kun, the lyrics," she said with a small giggle. Roy groggily took the paper and read the top line. Yui had already picked out a title for the lyrics.

_"U & I_

_If you're gone,_  
_I can't do anything!_  
_I want to eat meals prepared by you!_  
_If you come back, I want_  
_To hug you with a huge_  
_Smile on my face!  
If you're gone,_  
_I can't apologize to you!  
I want to hear your voice!"_

((A/N: This is directly from Vol. 4 Chapter 1 of the manga from Houkago Translations. I don't exactly remember the anime's translation so I won't use it here.))

Roy read the lyrics a few times while the grogginess from his short nap wore off. Reading the title line again, Roy stopped. '_"U & I,"'_ he mused. _'Ui-chan… she wrote a song about Ui-chan.'_ Roy looked over at his girlfriend and noticed a single tear threatening to fall down her face even though she was smiling.

"Yui-chan," Roy said softly. "You really miss your sister, don't you?" Yui nodded.

"Yeah," she sighed. "But I'm glad I got to go on this trip with you, Roy-kun." She beamed at him and he smiled back.

"I'm glad you're with me, too." He paused. "While I have the opportunity, I think I should warn you about some of my family members." Yui cast him a wary look, but didn't respond. "First of all," Roy continued, "never accept anything my Uncle Robby gives you. Just trust me.

"Second, if my Aunt Jospehine wants you to listen to her story about how she escaped the clutches of a vicious tiger, don't believe her. Her cat tried to eat her sock once, and she got all bent up about it and made up the story.

"Third, don't talk to my cousin Adam. He's a major otaku, so meeting a Japanese girl would be like a dream come true for him and he'd probably never leave you alone."

Yui laughed. "I'm sure I'll be fine, Roy-kun, thank you," she said. "Now let's relax for the rest of the flight." She pulled up the armrest from between their seats so she could lean her head against his shoulder as they slept.

* * *

_That night..._

"Wow, that was a long flight," Roy said as he plopped down onto the bed in the hotel room.

"How would you know?" Yui asked him. "You slept the whole way." Roy feigned a hurt look, but Yui just giggled.

"I was not asleep the whole way," he countered.

"Of course you were, you drooled on my shoulder the whole time." Yui turned to show Roy the large stain on her shoulder. "Because of that, you're gonna take me to buy a new t-shirt tomorrow."

Roy smiled. "Okay, but only because it's your first time in America."

"Don't worry about it, Roy," Melissa said from the bathroom, "your father did the same thing to me the first time we flew together."

Ryan, who was on the phone at the time, blushed and nearly dropped the phone from embarrassment. "We agreed to never talk about that," he said angrily as Roy and Yui struggled not to laugh. "Or have you forgotten that you tripped and fell right onto your face as we got off the plane?" he asked with a smirk.

"Ryan!" Melissa nearly shouted as Roy and Yui finally gave in and fell off the bed rolling in laughter.

"Hey, you broke the agreement first," he said before returning to his phone conversation.

"Honestly, sometimes, that man..." Melissa groaned as she walked out from the bathroom. "You kids look like you're having fun already." She looked down at Roy and Yui with a small smile as they picked themselves up from the floor.

"What's the plan for tomorrow?" Roy asked.

"Well, I think we're planning to go see Aunt Catherine and baby Albert around lunch time," Melissa answered. "And I think everyone was going to meet at the nursing home with Grandpa Lewis."

"How has he been lately?" Roy asked. "Has he been feeling any better?"

"Not really. It's horrible to even think about it, but the doctors say he may only have a few weeks left to live."

Yui gasped and Roy looked down at the bed covers. "I wish there were a way for him to get better," he whispered.

Melissa gave him a sad smile. "You said that at New Years," she replied.

"Do you think it'll be more likely to happen if I keep wishing?"

"Enough of this depressing chit-chat," Ryan said suddenly. Everyone looked up at him. "I'm starving, so how about we all go get something to eat? You haven't tasted good food until you've had a California burger, Yui-chan."

* * *

_The next day..._

"Kyaa! He's so cute! Just like Azusa-chan!"

This was the general synopsis of Yui's reaction to baby Albert. The first meeting between the Japanese guitarist and the infant was a very loud and exciting one. Yui immediately wanted to hold him, only to discover that babies are rather heavy. She almost fell over, only being saved by the fact that Roy had caught her. After adjusting to Albert's weight, Yui was able to hold him without any problems.

The ensuing questions about who "Azusa-chan" was were answered by Roy. "Or underclassman... girl from high school," he said despite the small confusion of terms. "She's a year younger than us and joined the music club that we're in this past year."

"So are you all like in a band?" Aunt Catherine asked, watching Yui warily.

"Yeah, there's six of us now," Yui answered. "Roy-kun, Azusa-chan, and I all play guitar. Mugi-chan plays keyboard, Mio-chan plays bass, and Ricchan plays drums." Since Yui still wasn't entirely fluent in speaking English without her Japanese accent, her words sounded very strange to Aunt Catherine.

"Ah, Yui likes to use Japanese honorifics with names," Roy explained at the confused look on his aunt's face. "The 'kun' suffix she adds to my name just means we're familiar with each other; it's typically used for guys, although it can be used for a girl's name, too. The 'chan' suffix is usually used for girls, and usually implies you think the person in question is cute; in this case, Yui calls all her friends '-chan.'"

Aunt Catherine just nodded. "Yeah, sure."

"I didn't realize there was so much difference between English and Japanese," Yui mumbled as she handed Albert back to his mother. "It's like having to re-learn how to speak because I have to think about every word."

"Yeah, it was tough for me when I moved to Japan," Roy replied, "but luckily I had a lot of time before we moved to learn the language. Obviously, I still don't know a lot of the more obscure words, but then there's a lot of people in America who don't know a lot of the English language."

"I just got off the phone with Dave," Ryan said as he walked into the room. "They won't be able to make it today. Lisa's come down with a cold so they're going to stay and look after her."

"Well, that's too bad," Aunt Catherine said. "But I think that's everyone that we were planning to meet at the nursing home, so we can go now."

* * *

"Well, isn't this a surprise? Everyone and their grandkids come to see me."

"How are you feeling, Grandpa Lewis?" Roy asked as the family entered the room.

"I'm feeling alright today," the older man replied. "I had heard you were coming to visit me. And I believe I'd heard you were bringing your girlfriend along with you." He looked around and noticed Yui. "Would this be her, then?" Roy nodded with a beaming smile.

"Well, you're right beautiful, young lady," Grandpa Lewis said to Yui, causing her to blush fiercely. "Listen, you take good care of my grandson there," he said. Yui nodded as the elderly man turned back to Roy. "And you take good care of her, too."

"Of course," Roy replied.

"Good, then my work here is done," Grandpa Lewis said with a smile. "What say we get this party started then?"

The festivities began. A banner hung against the far wall read "Official 'Welcome to Earth Baby Albert' Party." Aunt Catherine and her husband, Richard, had brought a cake (store-bought) and some ice cream (also store-bought) for everyone to eat; they'd also brought some sugar-free ice cream to share with other residents in the nursing home.

Ryan and Melissa had provided some music for the party via CDs. The discs included some songs that they had recorded themselves, both many years ago and recently, and some of the songs that Roy and the others had done with the Light Music Club. Since most of the people at the party couldn't understand the Japanese singing, mainly Roy's cover songs were included. Aunt Catherine did compliment Yui's vocal work on "Fuwa Fuwa Time," though.

As time kept going, the party began winding down, and Roy decided it was time to wrap things up. Grabbing his acoustic guitar, he motioned for Yui to grab her guitar as well.

"Could everyone gather together?" he asked loudly enough for the whole room to hear. "We're going to move into the other room so Yui and I can play a song for Albert." Everyone moved to the sunroom just down the hall. The room had much more open space than the bedroom, so it would be much easier for Yui and Roy to play their song.

Yui was using a small amp for her guitar since she didn't really want it that loud. Roy was playing his Epiphone Cortez acoustic.

"This song is called 'Dare You to Move' and it's by Switchfoot."

_"Welcome to the planet_  
_Welcome to existence_  
_Everyone's here_  
_Everyone's here_

_Everybody's watching you now_  
_Everybody waits for you now_  
_What happens next?_  
_What happens next?_

_I dare you to move_  
_I dare you to move_  
_I dare you to lift yourself off up the floor_  
_I dare you to move_  
_I dare you to move_  
_Like today never happened_  
_Today never happened, before..._

_Welcome to the fallout_  
_Welcome to resistance_  
_The tension is here_  
_The tension is here_  
_Between who you are and who you could be_  
_Between how it is and how it should be_

_I dare you to move_  
_I dare you to move_  
_I dare you to lift yourself off up the floor_  
_I dare you to move_  
_I dare you to move_  
_Like today never happened_  
_Today never happened..._

_Mabye redemption has stories to tell_  
_Mabye forgiveness is right where you fell_  
_Where can you run to escape from yourself?_  
_Where you gonna go?_  
_Where you gonna go?_  
_Salvation is here-"_

CRASH!

"Oh my God, dad! Are you okay?" Aunt Catherine shouted.

"Grandpa Lewis just fainted! Roy, call 911!"

* * *

Tears fell.

They fell rapidly, staining Yui's shirt. But she didn't care this time. She would let Roy stain all of her shirts with tears if it would make him feel better. But she could tell... It hurt so much.

"Why?" he shouted into her shoulder. "The doctors said he had a few weeks left!"

"It's okay, Roy," Yui said in an attempt to soothe him. "Everything will be okay. It was-" Yui choked up, holding back her own stream of tears.

"See?" Roy said, not moving away from her. "Even you can't help but feel it." His voice was so clear now, despite the tears that had been falling moments ago. "It was always like that with Grandpa Lewis; he made everyone happy. That's just how he was."

"Roy..."

They sat in silence for a while. Neither knew how long, but it seemed like eternity.

"It's my fault."

Yui gasped.

"It's my fault Grandpa Lewis is dead. He died while I was up there playing my guitar," Roy said, finally pulling away from Yui.

"Roy, it's not-" Yui tried.

"What else could it be?" Roy snapped as he stepped away from the bed they had been sitting on. "The doctors said he had three weeks. Are you saying the doctors were wrong?"

"No, but-"

"Just leave me alone."

"Roy, you don't need to be alone right now!"

"Yui!" Roy shouted. Yui jumped.

"Fine," Yui said sadly. "I'll go downstairs for a while."

Yui left quietly as Roy sat back down on his bed. Left alone with his thoughts...

_'Why did this have to happen?'_

_'Was it really... my fault?'_

Roy wiped a final tear away from his eyes.

"I'm never gonna play guitar again."

* * *

A/N: Ahhhh... I hate writing this stuff. So depressing. I won't put much here, but I just want to say that I appreciate everyone for staying with this story. I hope this sudden (or perhaps not so sudden) turn won't alienate people. I don't wanna spoil anything, but I promise there's a bright side in this.

I do want to say one thing, though: I updated the Live album with some new stuff. The songs aren't all "live" versions necessarily. Some are just covers I found on YouTube and added an echo effect to. Some are the original song with the echo effect. Again, if anyone has any actual live versions of the songs that I don't have, please let me know.

I should also add that I don't own the rights to the lyrics for either of the songs here.


	21. Kings and Queens

Hello again peoples. Time to get rid of the gloomy atmosphere from the previous chapter.

Well... that'll actually stick around for a bit. I need to resolve a few things before everything becomes all sunshine and daisies again. Namely that last line from the previous chapter *SPOILER ALERT* so yeah, I suppose I'd better get on with that.

Disclaimer: Yeah, I so don't own the rights to K-On! If I did, the manga would totally not be ending. I really hope Kakifly continues into a new series. Oh, I also don't own rights to any instruments, songs, or lyrics mentioned in this chapter (or any other chapter). Seriously, if I owned the rights to things like that, I would so not be here.

* * *

"It's been two days, and Roy still hasn't come out from that room," Melissa said worriedly.

"Has he eaten anything?" Ryan asked. They were sitting in the lobby of the hotel. Yui was standing off to the side, looking distraught.

"I made him eat an apple yesterday," Yui replied in a hollow voice, "but I don't think he's had much else." She looked down at her shoes, apparently rather interested with them. "He won't even talk to me, though."

"Honestly, what has gotten into that boy?" Melissa asked. "I understand this hit him really hard, but starving won't fix anything." She cast a glance at the younger girl.

_Flashback_

_"Oh my God, dad! Are you okay?" Aunt Catherine shouted as the old man fell to the floor.  
_  
_"Grandpa Lewis just fainted! Roy, call 911!" Ryan said._

_Roy stood frozen stiff. His eyes were locked onto the still body of his grandfather, whom he could barely see through the mass of people moving around him. His father's shout went unheard._

_"I'll make the call, Ryan-san!" Yui said, noticing that Roy hadn't moved. Fighting back the thought that all of this must be a nightmare, Yui ran to the nurse's station and informed them of what had happened, urging them to call the hospital._

_It was far too late by the time the paramedics arrived. Grandpa Lewis was already gone. They loaded him onto a stretcher to take him away, but life suddenly jumped into Roy._

_He began shouting, screaming for the medics to bring his grandfather back to them. "Why are you taking him away?" he cried at the top of his lungs, tears already streaming from his eyes. "Bring him back!"_

_Hurrying to avoid further problems, Ryan grabbed his son and pulled him away from the room. Kicking and screaming, Roy was dragged all the way out of the nursing home, away from where the paramedics were._

_"Melissa, take the kids back to the hotel," Ryan said softly with a pained look; tears were threatening in his eyes as well. "They don't need to be here now." His wife nodded and he left._

_"Come on, let's go," Melissa said, ushering her son and the girl she already thought of as a daughter-in-law into the rental car._

_The guitars lay forgotten in the sunroom.

* * *

_

_"You kids stay in here," Melissa told them once they had returned to the hotel room. "You can go down to the lobby, but I don't want you wandering off anywhere other than that. Not right now."_

_"I don't think we'll be going anywhere, Melissa-chan," Yui said softly. The mother smiled at her and left._

_Roy and Yui sat on the far bed for what seemed like hours. Yui watched the digital clock on the nightstand next to her, but Roy just stared straight down into his lap. Even with the pressure of the situation making time feel slow, Yui could tell they had only been sitting on the bed for about twenty minutes before the silence was finally broken._

_"Yui-chan," Roy said in a voice rough from crying. She looked around at his face and her heart nearly broke at the pure anguish all over his features. "Please... please tell me this is a nightmare."_

_Something snapped and Roy flung himself into Yui's arms. His tears fell in what must have been gallons, but Yui didn't mind. After all the small things that Roy had helped her with - guitar, studying... love - she would help him with this huge burden._

_End Flashback_

"Yui-chan," Melissa began tentatively. The girl barely twitched to show she was listening. "Did something happen between you and Roy after I left you?"

There was no jump or twitch this time, but when Yui turned around to look at Roy's parents, she was crying. Melissa quickly jumped up and took Yui into her arms. "What happened?" she asked softly.

After she had calmed down, Yui explained to them what had happened.

"And... I stood outside the door for a moment," she said finally, "after he- he yelled at me." Melissa and Ryan both frowned. "I heard him say... He said that he would never play guitar again."

Two pairs of eyes shot wide open at this. "Are you sure that's what he said?" Ryan asked. Yui just nodded.

"Think about it, Ryan," Melissa said. "Dad died while Roy was up there playing his guitar. Something like this would have hit him hard no matter what, but now he thinks it's his fault."

"Well, we just got the report in on what he died from," Ryan said, straining with his words. "Apparently there had been plaque building up in his arteries for years, and it finally got him." He took a moment to keep his composure. "The doctor said he would have di- He would have been gone after we left anyway."

"It won't matter to Roy," Yui said.

Melissa nodded sadly. "Yeah, I was thinking the same thing." She cast a glance towards the elevator as if expecting Roy to be exiting at any moment. "But we still need something to snap him out of this."

* * *

"Roy?"

Silence.

"We're coming in now," Melissa said.

"Whatever," Roy replied from his position on the bed. His back was against the headboard and his feet were tucked up into his stomach. His hair was messy (more so than usual) as if he hadn't bathed in several days.

"The report came back from the doctors," Ryan said softly, sitting on the other bed in the room.

"That's nice," Roy said, devoid of any thoughts that the report really was nice. Yui frowned, quickly becoming agitated with her boyfriend's demeanor. She turned to the two adults.

"Ryan-san, Melissa-chan, could you let me handle this?" she asked them. "I think Roy might be better off hearing this from just one person." She cast a pleading glance at them. "And I want that person to be me."

Both parents just nodded. Ryan handed Yui the report and then left with his wife. Yui heaved a huge sigh to calm her nerves before turning back to face Roy. He hadn't moved a muscle.

"Don't you want to hear the report, Roy-kun?" Yui asked, hoping that adding the honorific would at least get some kind of reaction from him.

"Whatever."

Yui frowned again, but forced a sad smile again and sat down on the bed next to him. She opened up the file where he would be able to see it over her shoulder if he had been looking. Yui read the file out loud despite the fact that Roy seemed increasingly uninterested in hearing it.

"The doctors said that your grandfather had plaque building up in his arteries for years," she explained. "'It's a wonder he survived as long as he did,' they said. When he died, all of that built-up plaque just clogged the artery to the point that his heart couldn't stand the pressure anymore and just gave out."

Roy tried not to show any response to Yui's words, but tears were beginning to form in his eyes, his jaw was clenched, and his hands had balled into fists.

"They said that his heart must have sped up from hearing us playing that song," Yui continued. "They said, 'His heart swelled with pride. Swelled up so much that it killed him.'"

"Why are you doing this?" Roy finally choked out. His body was shaking violently. "You're just proving my point!"

"If you need proof," Yui snapped, getting up from the bed and turning sharply to look at him, "then you really didn't believe it in the first place!"

"But it's true!" Roy replied, looking up at her for the first time since she'd entered the room. "You just explained it!" He pointed at the file folder which was now lying on the bed a foot or so away from him.

"You don't see?" Yui asked. "If that's why his heart rate went up, then I'm as much to blame as you are. I was up there playing guitar, too, right next to you!"

"It's not your fault!" Roy snapped back. "It's mine!"

"You just don't get it, Roy," Yui muttered.

"No, you don't-"

SMACK!

Roy's head turned to his right sharply with several audible pops. If he could have looked in the mirror, there would have been a large, red handprint on the left side of his face. When he turned back to face Yui, he saw her breathing heavily. Her right arm was in the air above her left shoulder, moving up and down with her heavy breathing. She lowered her hand.

"Roy," she said finally, tears leaking down her face. "This isn't something that you should have to go through by yourself. Sure, alone time is nice, but shoving yourself away from all human interaction and starving yourself is only going to make everyone who loves you miserable!"

"Yui..." Roy muttered.

"Roy, I love you," Yui said desperately. "I love you more than anything else in the world. More than my guitars, more than Mugi-chan's cakes, more than the Light Music Club, more than my parents. More than Ui!" Yui stopped to take another deep breath. "But you hate yourself so much that you would sit up here and waste away into nothing while everyone sits around worrying if you'll ever smile again. Ever eat. Ever play guitar."

Roy looked up at his girlfriend. "Yui, I'm sorry," he said weakly. "I love you more than anything else, too. I'm sorry I made you worry, and I'm sorry I made everyone worry." He wiped his eyes and smiled at his girlfriend. "Thank you."

Roy pushed himself off the bed - purposefully jabbing his knee into the medical report in the process - and threw himself into Yui's arms. He hugged her like he had never done so before, holding onto her for his life. "Thank you," he whispered again.

"I love you," Yui whispered back.

"I love you, too."

"Is it safe to come in now?" Melissa asked as she opened the door.

"If it wasn't, it wouldn't matter now would it?" Roy asked with a grin.

"It's good to have you back, Roy," Ryan said. "I was afraid aliens had come and abducted my son away and replaced him with some gloomy party-pooper."

This is not the best way to great someone after overcoming a great emotional disturbance. Most people would still try to comfort the person and would stay away from mentioning any possibly-hurtful remarks.

Ryan Page was, of course, not most people.

Roy and Yui laughed at the joke even though Melissa frowned. Roy hugged both of his parents. "I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to worry everyone. I don't really know what was going through my mind."

"It's okay to grieve, Roy," his mother said, "but you still have to live your life, too."

((A/N: I nearly broke down from the cheesiness of that line.))

"And that means you can't quit guitar, either!" Yui said from behind him.

"Oh that's right!" Roy said. "Yeah, I'm definitely taking that back." He looked at his father. "Someone did pick up the guitars from the nursing home, right?"

"Of course," his father replied. "We're a musical family; we wouldn't just leave instruments, especially expensive ones, lying around in the middle of a panic like that."

"Good," Roy said. There was a moment of silence as everyone stopped to appreciate being in each other's company. "I want to play a song at Grandpa Lewis' funeral."

* * *

_Two days later..._

"Are you gonna be okay, Roy-kun?" Yui asked him from the seat next to him.

"I'll be fine," he said with a reassuring smile.

Hundreds of chairs had been set up on the lawn of a very prestigious-looking cemetery. Roy and Yui were sitting in the "family row" along with his mother and father. Aunt Catherine had decided to sit near the back of the crowd in case baby Albert began crying.

"Are you feeling better since a few days ago?"

His smile faltered a little. "It still hurts," he admitted, "but I know how to fight through the pain now."

"How?" Yui asked.

"I think of you," Roy replied, causing her to blush, "and of all the people who love me." he turned to face her. "Of my parents, my friends, the Light Music Club, my family. Everyone who loves me; they give me the strength to fight away the pain." Yui smiled at him and then they both returned their attention to the podium set up in front of them.

An old friend of Grandpa Lewis' got up and spoke for a while, telling old stories of how they had been Navy buddies. Having never heard any of these stories, Roy listened intently to the tales of his grandfather nearly dying on a Navy ship that had been ambushed far out at sea; how his grandfather had single-handedly saved an entire town from being blown up by defusing a bomb; how his grandfather had settled down with his wife after returning from the war; how they had two wonderful daughters, Melissa and Catherine, and how they'd lived their lives wonderfully together until his wife had passed on at the age of seventy-four.

After the speaker stepped down, the minister stepped up to the podium and said some words that probably had more religious meaning than Roy really cared about. He asked if anyone had anything they would like to add. Roy stood up.

Roy stepped up to the podium overlooking his grandfather's casket. "It still seems kind of surreal," he began. "If you had asked me two weeks ago what I'd be doing today, I'd have told you I'd be spending time with my grandfather. I'm glad to say that still wouldn't be a lie; I'm still here; I can still live in his place.

"Grandpa Lewis always told me to live life to it's fullest. I know there's not very many phrases more cliche than that, but it always stuck with me. I'm disappointed to say I'd forgotten those words this past week.

"Right after Grandpa Lewis died, I fell into a depression that I had never felt before. It was like the weight of his death was killing me as well. It took two days, a stern talking-to, and a painful slap to get me to realize that I was hurting those I love. My girlfriend showed me that others feel pain when I'm feeling pain, too. They hurt because I hurt." Roy paused to smile down at Yui. "Thank you, Yui, for showing me how to live my life again.

"I know it may disrespectful to some," Roy continued, looking back at the crowd, "but I'd like to play a few songs in memory of my grandfather. And I'd like to ask for some help with that, as well."

Roy stepped away from the podium as four others in the crowd stood up from their seats. Yui led the others to where their instruments were waiting. Once everyone was in place, Roy looked at the group behind him.

"Thank you for being here, everyone," he said. "You have no idea how much this means to me." The smiling of faces of the Light Music Club just looked back at him with the same feeling. Every one of them had the same look in their eyes: "We wouldn't want to be anywhere else right now."

Roy turned back to face the audience. "The first song we're going to do is called 'Kings and Queens' and it's by Aerosmith."

_"Long ago in days untold_  
_Were ruled by Lords of greed_  
_Maidens fared with gold_  
_They dared to bare their wombs that bleed_

_Kings and queens and guillotines_  
_Taking lives denied_  
_Starch and parchment laid the laws_  
_When bishops took the ride_  
_Only to deceive_

_Oh I know I lived this life afore_  
_Somehow know now truths I must be sure_  
_Tossin turnin' nightmares burnin' dreams of swords in hand_  
_Sailin' ships the Viking spits the blood of father's land_  
_Only to deceive_

_Living times of knights and mares_  
_Raising swords for maidens fair_  
_Sneer at death fear only loss of pride_

_Living other centuries_  
_Deja vu or what you please_  
_Follows true to all who do or die_

_Screams of no reply they died_  
_Screams of no reply and died_  
_Lordy lordy and then then they died_  
_Lordy no then they died_

_Live and do or die_  
_Long ago were days I told...Lord they died_  
_Kings and queens and guillotines..._  
_Live and no reply they died_  
_Long ago were days I told..._  
_Kings and queens and guillotines..."_

As the song finished, all of the people sitting in the chairs applauded. "Thank you everyone," Roy said. "This means so much to me." Roy moved quickly and exchanged his electric guitar out for his acoustic one. Yui noticed proudly that there was no hesitation as he grabbed the acoustic guitar.

"The next song," Roy began again, "is one probably a lot of you know. It was my grandfather's favorite song. Which is strange, because most people my grandfather's age didn't like rock music. But this song just spoke volumes to him about the wonderful state he lived in. This is 'Hotel California' by The Eagles."

_"On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair_  
_Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air_  
_Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light_  
_My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim_  
_I had to stop for the night_  
_There she stood in the doorway;_  
_I heard the mission bell_  
_And I was thinking to myself,_  
_'this could be heaven or this could be hell'_  
_Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way_  
_There were voices down the corridor,_  
_I thought I heard them say..._

_Welcome to the hotel california_  
_Such a lovely place_  
_Such a lovely face_  
_Plenty of room at the hotel california_  
_Any time of year, you can find it here_

_Her mind is tiffany-twisted, she got the mercedes bends_  
_She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys, that she calls friends_  
_How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat._  
_Some dance to remember, some dance to forget_

_So I called up the captain,_  
_'please bring me my wine'_  
_He said, 'we haven't had that spirit here since nineteen sixty nine'_  
_And still those voices are calling from far away,_  
_Wake you up in the middle of the night_  
_Just to hear them say..._

_Welcome to the hotel california_  
_Such a lovely place_  
_Such a lovely face_  
_They livin' it up at the hotel california_  
_What a nice surprise, bring your alibis_

_Mirrors on the ceiling,_  
_The pink champagne on ice_  
_And she said 'we are all just prisoners here, of our own device'_  
_And in the master's chambers,_  
_They gathered for the feast_  
_The stab it with their steely knives,_  
_But they just can't kill the beast_

_Last thing I remember, I was_  
_Running for the door_  
_I had to find the passage back_  
_To the place I was before_  
_'relax,' said the night man,_  
_We are programmed to receive._  
_You can checkout any time you like,_  
_But you can never leave!"_

With Roy playing the acoustic, Yui played the guitar solo. She put all her heart and soul into every stroke of the pick and every movement of her fingers. When the song was finally over, Roy looked around at his friends and family. He could only think one thing.

_'Thank you, Grandpa Lewis.'

* * *

_

A/N: Wow, can you say on a roll? I don't think I've gotten a chapter done this quick since this time _last_ year. Thank you to everyone who reviewed. I hope this calms all thoughts that Roy going to turn emo and end the story on a horrible note. Believe me, this story has plenty of life left. In fact, I worked it out earlier. There's at least 6-8 chapters left for "Brand New Page." That doesn't count album chapters, though. I'll probably be making one huge chapter that includes the info for all of the albums (once I get the last two finished).

This ends the America arc. Next up will be the beginning of the second term in school, which means the cultural festival is coming up soon!

P.S. This is what the alphabet would look like if the letters "q" and "r" were taken away.

No seriously, I have to share this with you. This is an AIM conversation between me and Comma-chan that happened while I was still in the process of writing this.

**Comma-chan**  
** Oh, okay. I was about to ask about the rest of the America-trip, given Roy has just decided to stop playing guitar forevers.**  
_Sparanda_  
_ yeah, that will be resolved in this chapter_  
_ you would know because of the "Roy plays Kings & Queens by Aerosmith at __grandfather's funeral" sticky note_  
**Comma-chan**  
** Yaaaaaaayness ^_^ Lack of guitar = sad.**  
** ... This is true.**  
** I thought maybe he played it on banjo instead or something.**  
_Sparanda_  
_ xD_  
_ I might just include that in the ending A/N for this chapter_  
**Comma-chan**  
** xD**


	22. Hangman Jury

Well, here we are again folks. Thanks to all my readers. We now have over 11,000 hits on this story, and I'm fast approaching 100,000 words. It's all because of the awesome reviews I get from my readers!

America arc is over now, so I'll be getting back to the main story. Summer break is over now, meaning the group gets back into the second term of their final year (I know it's weird that Japan's school year starts in like March or April, but I'm gonna just run with it).

Disclaimer: Don't own rights to K-On! Also don't own rights to a certain play that will be featured in the next few chapters. *spoilers!*

* * *

"Why did summer break have to end?" Yui moaned.

"Look at this way, Yui," Roy said as he walked along beside her. "We get to spend more time together at school."

Yui smiled and wrapped her arm around his, interlocking their fingers.

"You two seem a lot more 'lovey-dovey' since we got back from America," Ritsu said from behind them.

"And I noticed you're not using honorifics with each other, too," Mio commented from the front of the group. They were all walking towards the music club room to drop off their instruments before class.

"Well, Yui and I just kind of thought it was time," Roy said somewhat evasively. "We've been dating for about a year and a half and it's been a year since we admitted we were in love. I guess... after everything that happened in America, it just seemed normal."

"Especially since we always used English while we were there," Yui added, "and we never used honorifics." She cast a meaningful look at her boyfriend. "Your parents still called me 'Yui-chan' the whole time, though."

Roy laughed. "Yeah, they do that." The others laughed along with him as they climbed the final set of stairs before the club room. Mio opened the door.

"HELLO, EVERYBODY!" Azusa shouted from the doorway, causing Mio to jump away from the door. Roy jumped back as well, inadvertently dragging Yui with him. Unsurprisingly, the two ended up in a tangled mess on the floor.

"What are you doing this early in the morning?" Sawako asked as she appeared on the landing.

Roy struggled to lift his head from the floor, but found it very difficult to move. The reason became rather apparent when he opened his eyes and saw a large expanse of black above him. That large expanse of black happened to be the stockings Yui was wearing, particularly the area around her butt.

Roy promptly fainted from a massive nosebleed.

* * *

Roy woke up sometime later with a figure hovering over him. After a moment, he realized the figure was Yui. Still groggy from fainting, Roy mumbled, "You seem somewhat familiar, have I threatened you before?"

Not missing a beat, Yui replied, "I make a point of avoiding familiarity with pirates."

"Ah," Roy said. "Well, then it would be a shame to put a black mark on your record." He smiled. "So, if you'll excuse me." He quickly leaned up and gave Yui a short kiss on her lips.

Roy and Yui got up from the corner of the music room where she had been watching him and walked over to the group of desks where Mugi usually served tea. Roy noticed that Mugi, Ritsu, and Mio were going about their normal business: making and serving tea, being lazy, and complaining about Ritsu being lazy, respectively. He also noticed that Azusa was determinedly not meeting his eyes.

_'She probably thinks it's her fault that I fainted,'_ Roy thought.

"Good morning, Azusa-chan," Roy said as he sat down.

Azusa replied barely loud enough for him to hear, "Good morning."

Roy frowned. Turning back to the others, he made an attempt to spark a conversation. "Second term means the school festival, right?" he asked. "That's means a concert. Isn't that what you were so excited about earlier, Azusa-chan?"

The younger girl blushed, but didn't reply. Roy frowned again.

"That's right, Azusa-chan wasn't with us for the concert last year," Mio said.

"But she already knows what it's like because of the Summerfest concert," Ritsu added.

"But the school concert is better because it's people we know, right?" Yui said.

"Of course," Roy replied. "Hundreds of screaming fans are nice, but it feels so much better just to here appreciation from one person you actually care about."

"When we played the concert here before you joined," Yui added, "everyone was screaming and cheering and clapping and calling out our names."

"I want to write a new song," Azusa said in a small voice.

After a moment, Roy said, "I like that."

"I wrote some lyrics over the summer," Mio suggested, holding out some papers that had the lyrics on them.

Roy and the others looked over the first page, looking back up at the writer rather quickly.

"Well," Roy said uncertainly, "they're definitely Mio-chan's style."

"They're weird," Azusa mumbled, obviously not really paying attention to what she had been saying. Mio immediately fell back in her chair in shock. The younger guitarist freaked out for a moment before running to the older girl's side. "Sorry, Mio-senpai!" she said quickly.

Mio laughed. "It's okay, Azusa," she said. "I was just a bit surprised, I think."

"Oh yeah," Yui said suddenly, "I wrote some lyrics, too."

"Oh yeah, that's right," Roy said. "I had almost forgotten about that." Yui rummaged around in her bag for the paper. "While we were on the plane to America, Yui and I decided to spend some of the time writing some lyrics." He gave a sheepish smile and rubbed his neck. "Mine weren't any good, but Yui's were excellent."

"I wrote a song about Ui!" Yui said excitedly as she handed the paper to Mio and the others.

The group took a few moments to read through the lyrics several times while Yui and Roy shared knowing looks.

"Yui-senpai," Azusa said after a few minutes. "Was this really written by you?"

"Azusa-chan, that hurts," Yui said playfully. "I just told myself to write about something I cared about." Yui blushed lightly. "My first thought was to write a song about Roy, but I still don't think I could ever put that feeling into words, especially after everything that happened in America." Roy blushed as well. "Then I thought about how great it would be for Ui to be there to help me write them, and then I decided to write a song about Ui!"

"I like the title," Mugi said. "'U & I,' very touching. And the song made me cry a bit."

"Yeah, this is really good," Ritsu added.

Mio looked down at her lyrics and started crying a little. "My lyrics..." she muttered.

Realizing this, Ritsu quickly said, "We can write two songs!"

"I don't know if we'll be able to have two songs ready in time for the festival, though," Roy said thoughtfully. "I mean, all we have so far is the lyrics, and even then only part of the songs."

Yui nodded. "Let's all work on it tonight," she suggested. "And bring back what we have tomorrow and see how it works."

Suddenly, the door opened and Nodoka stepped through.

"Nodoka-chan!" Yui said excitedly. "Look at the lyrics I wrote!"

"I'll look at them later," Nodoka said with a small smile, "but you're all gonna be late for class if you don't leave soon. Yamanaka-sensei asked me to let you all know."

As if they didn't believe Nodoka's claim, all six members of the Light Music Club looked at the wall clock directly above the student body president's head. The clock read 8:57 A.M.

"Well, crap," Roy said shortly.

They all gathered their bags and rushed from the room quickly, barely bothering to close the door behind them. While Nodoka, being the student body president, had the luxury of showing up to class late (especially since she had been sent on an errand by the teacher), the Music Club was not that fortunate. The group (minus Azusa who was a year below them) ran through the hallways at top speed, narrowly avoiding three first-year students, two janitors, and a bucket of water. They fell through the doorway at exactly 8:00 A.M.

Typically, the phrase "fell through the doorway" is a metaphor since the person or people involved don't usually fall down.

This was not the case for the Light Music Club.

They arrived in the classroom in a tangled mess on the floor, causing everyone in the room to turn towards the doorway and stare at them. The teacher at the front of the room stood up and moved to the side to get a better look at them.

"I believe you're looking for Yamanaka-sensei's room," she said politely. "Next door."

Mio, who had somehow fallen where her head was pointing away from the classroom, looked up. "This is class 3-1," she said blankly.

"Correct," the teacher said.

"Sorry for the trouble," Roy said as the group quickly gathered themselves off the floor and left for their actual classroom.

"You're late," Sawako said as they filed in.

"We were on time in class 3-1," Roy said. "Went to the wrong room because we were in such a hurry."

* * *

"For the school festival, class 3-2 will be performing Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet,'" Nodoka said from the front of the classroom, "and the part of Juliet, as chosen by your votes, will be Akiyama Mio."

Four heads in the classroom turned to stare at Mio, but she seemed almost normal. "She's fainted," Ritsu said simply from her seat next to the bassist. "She'll be alright, just go on Nodoka."

"Umm, okay," Nodoka continued uncertainly. She checked the board, tallying up the votes. Having already counted the votes on the board, one boy in the back of the room began creeping towards the exit, aiming to escape what must be a horrible and very painful fate.

"The part of Romeo will be played by Roy Page."

"Damn," Roy said from the doorway. He let the door handle go and quickly moved back to his desk. The second he touched back down on his seat, he jumped back up. "Objection!" he shouted, pointing what seemed to be an accusing finger at Nodoka.

((A/N: Yes, random Phoenix Wright reference...))

"I thought we had to be nominated for this kind of thing," Roy said with a slight tinge of hope in his voice.

"Nominations were held during homeroom while you all were sitting around in the music club room," Nodoka explained. "Matsuda-kun nominated you."

Roy quickly turned to glare at the boy in question. "Hey, I figured it was a good idea," Matsuda said defensively. "It's Shakespeare; you're English, right?"

Roy stared at him in disbelief. "I'm American, smart one," he said.

"Same difference."

"Why are we doing 'Romeo and Juliet' in the first place?" Yui asked, clearly upset for some reason.

"What do you mean?" Nodoka asked. "I just said most of this was decided during homeroom earlier, right? 'Romeo and Juliet' was picked to be the performance by three votes."

The color faded immediately from Roy and Mio's faces. _'If only we hadn't been late, we could have stopped this!'_ they both thought.

"I'm writing the script," Mugi said happily. "I had actually been planning on Roy and Yui getting the main roles, so I'll have to change some things now." The smile on Mugi's face had Roy worried, but there was one comforting thought there.

At least it wasn't Sawako writing the script.

"Next, we'll need people working behind the scenes," Nodoka continued. Roy and Mio trudged back to their seats, grumbling about Nodoka "ignoring" their complaints. "We'll need someone to make stage costumes!"

Roy saw the movement from the corner of his eye. "No-!"

"I'll do it!" Sawako practically yelled.

Roy slammed his head downward onto his desk.

Ignoring Roy, Nodoka looked at the teacher. "Yamanaka-sensei? But making a teacher do that kind of work for us... it would be strange, wouldn't it?"

"Don't worry!" Sawako replied. "You won't regret it!"

A dark shadow seemed to pass over the teacher's eyes as she turned sharply towards Roy and Mio. "This won't be good," Roy muttered. Mio could only nod dumbly in reply.

* * *

"Nodoka!" Mio called out as class ended. The student body president stopped at the doorway. "I really don't think I can play the lead role."

Nodoka frowned for a moment. "If you tell me that you absolutely cannot do this, then I can find a replacement," she replied, now with a small smile. "But everybody in the class gave serious thought about who to pick for the roles. They chose you and Roy-san, so shouldn't you at least try to see this through to the end?"

Mio seemed to deflate a little bit. "Okay, then," she said as Nodoka walked away.

"I really don't know if they were thinking over it too seriously," Ritsu said as she walked up beside Mio. "I think they just chose the most popular people."

Roy and Yui walked up to them, followed closely by Mugi. "This will probably be a strange experience," Roy said with a nervous laugh. "Please take care of me," he added.

((A/N: To avoid confusion, this would be the translation for "Yoroshiku" in Japanese.))

As the group made their way to the club room, Roy noticed something rather strange going on between Yui and Mio. A better way to explain was that Yui was glaring at the bassist.

_'That's... strange, to say the least,'_ Roy mused.

They met Azusa at the stairs leading up to the music room and entered. Mugi set straight to making tea and everyone else sat down. Neither Roy nor Mio wanted to explain the play to the younger girl and it seemed like Yui was very upset about the whole thing, so the job fell to Ritsu to explain.

That turned out to be a rather bad idea since the drummer could barely say a word for laughing. Roy sighed.

"So wait, your class is doing what?" Azusa asked, obviously confounded by Ritsu's increasing laughter.

"Our class will be performing 'Romeo & Juliet' by Shakespeare," Roy said evenly. "Mio and I were chosen for the lead roles."

"Oh, that's great!" Azusa replied. "Roy-senpai as Romeo and Mio-senpai as Juliet!" Then the younger girl blushed. "Doesn't that mean the two of you have to kiss at the end?"

Ritsu doubled over in a new fit of laughter as Roy and Mio blushed such a deep scarlet, it seemed like their faces were on fire. Yui's face looked similar, but the grimace on her features seemed to be of barely-contained rage.

In a flash of motion, Yui suddenly got up and began walking towards the door.

"Yui?" Roy called out helplessly. She ignored him, slamming the door on the way out.

The group exchanged worried looks as Sawako walked in. "Is something bothering Yui-chan?"

Four pairs of eyes settled on Roy.

"Oh..." Roy groaned. "Not good."

* * *

A/N: I just had to end it there. Even Comma-chan agreed. Chapter complete!

Update: Character Image songs are out! And because of that... the newest BNP albums are complete! You can find all the stuff on my profile page here. I also added a link that will download the entire music library for all ten albums. Be warned, the file is about 660MB, so it will take a loooooooooooong time to download on slower computers.

I really need to go back through older chapters and fix some things. There's still some chapters that have Japanese, and I still haven't changed Satoshi's name in the Winter Days chapter. I might work on that tomorrow.


	23. Well this sucks

Okay, time to quit lying to myself. I know I've said many times that I would never abandon this fic but that seems to be the case now. I have absolutely no desire to write for this story, and college life is preventing from wanting to write for anything at the moment. I apologize to anyone who ever enjoyed this story, including all my friend from Otaku Sans Frontieres and the K-ON! Facebook page. There's just no way for my to keep this up anymore.

If anyone would like to pick the story up for themselves, I'd be happy to send you documents of everything I have here and all the stuff I've deleted as well. Just please, if anyone adopts the story, make sure you can finish it.

- Spar


End file.
